Welcome to World Camp!
by ForeverTwin611
Summary: World Meetings haven't been going as well as the nation's bosses had been hoping. So they've decided to change that! How? By sending all of them to a secluded camp for a year to work out their issues, of course! Pack up your things! We're going to camp!
1. World Camp

**Hello there! Nice to meet your acquaintance~ :D Welcome to my fic!**

**Now, I've had a couple ideas running through my head about what kind of story I want to write here. Nations or humans? What kind of setting? Which characters? (I LOVE THE WORLD) Which couples? (BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY THAT I LIKE~)**

**All in all, a really difficult decision. However I have decided on a plot that I like and should actually have fun writing! (Which is what counts, am I right?)**

**SO without further ado, I present to you World Camp! Enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom~ :3**

**Disclaimer (this is important): I DO NOT OWN HETALIA, THOUGH IF I DID THERE WOULD BE SOME…MINOR CHANGES~ ;3**

**Warnings: Just a bit of naughty language~**

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The World Meetings were becoming a meaningless waste of time. There would be some effort into solving a world issue but after a time, nothing could hold back the broken ties between certain nations. It didn't matter how many centuries ago the incident had happened; they could pretend that old scars were freshly bleeding wounds if it meant a fight. There would be an exchange of taunts and a threat or two before all hell would break loose. Rarely would anything be accomplished at these meetings, if they didn't make things worse by the end of them.

Now, it wasn't often that the bosses of the world got together without the nations present. However, it was time for a change and they agreed that there was only one solution. Camp. Specifically, World Camp. All the nations were to spend a year in a secluded camp site and see if they could find a way to cooperate in the meantime. Hopefully, the bosses thought, if they could manage that for a year at camp, they could during a World Meeting.

Hell, they figured if it worked on human teenagers it would work on the nations (because at times, they're not all that different). It had to work. It couldn't fail. After all, it was their only hope.

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Matthew received his letter earlier the previous day. It had come as such a shock that he had to call to verify it with his brother, Alfred, to make sure this was actually happening. It wasn't that he was completely opposed to the idea, it's just...a camp? What did his boss as well as the others' bosses think they were? _Kids?_ He's dealt with these nations for a couple centuries now! And unlike him, others have been with each other for thousands of years. How could they possibly think a year at camp could do anything if thousands of years hadn't?

None the less, there he was, packing a suitcase of clothes and other belongings. He was busy folding one of his favorite T- shirts when he suddenly found his vision had gone black and his nostrils were filling with the smell of fast food fries and general stink, making his eyes water.

"What the fuck?" he yelled (as loud as the generally soft spoken Canadian _could_ yell). He pulled off his attacker which was a plain White T- shirt, stained with God knows what, sporting the image of the McDonalds golden arches. Looking up, Matthew spotted its owner and proceeded to throw the filthy thing back where it had come.

Alfred F. Jones grinned at his brother as he chucked the article of clothing over his shoulder (Matthew winced). He then put on a fake pout, bright blue eyes looking at the Canadian from behind squared glasses.

"Aw come on Mattie!" the fellow blonde whined, "I just brought it over cause I knew all you'd be packing is lame shit with maple leaves on 'em instead."

Matthew was about to argue that that "lame shit with maple leaves on them" was pretty much his entire wardrobe but thought against it, as it would only make his current situation worse than it already was.

"I'm not wearing that-" Matthew paused to look at the crumpled shirt behind Alfred, "..._Thing_." he sighed heaving and pushed down on the pile of clothes packed into his suitcase (which also had a maple leaf on it) and turned back to Alfred, "Couldn't you have washed it at least?"

"Nope," The American replied. A hamburger had somehow materialized in his hands and he continued to talk while taking a large bite. Matthew wouldn't have been able to understand him if he wasn't so used to it, "Unlike you, dear brother, I was packing the important things."

Matthew was about to ask what could be more important than clothing at a camp when Alfred opened his own suitcase.

He suddenly knew where the hamburger had come from.

"Alfred you have got to be fucking kidding me." The American nation had revealed a suitcase filled entirely with fast food. Then Matthew noticed something, as he looked over the American's greasy treasure.

"Alfred you do realize we'll be gone at camp for a _year_, right? All of that will hardly last you a week."

Alfred looked at his brother curiously for a second, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "A year..but-" he picked up the letter again and almost dropped his hamburger (almost), "Holy shit!"

Matthew watched as his brother jumped to his feet, zipped the suitcase up again and threw on his beloved bomber jacket, "I'll be back later Mattie! Kthxbai!" With that, the other nation was out the door as fast as he had come.

Matthew hadn't even begun to enjoy the silence when he heard the sound of his own national anthem drift to his ears from a different room. His cell phone. Shit, where had he put it? He got up, and stretched his legs before proceeding to walk about the large house, following the the sound until he spotted it on the bathroom counter. Checking the ID he quickly flipped it open.

"MAAAATIIIIEEEE~!" The Canadian yelped and pulled the phone away from the side of his face, ears ringing.

"Dammit Gilbert!" Matthew said into the phone, daring to put it by his ear once more.

"Yes?" The Canadian frowned. He could tell the Prussian was grinning on the other end.

"What the fuck to you want?" Matthew asked, making sure Gilbert could tell he wasn't taking anymore bullshit.

"The awesome me was just calling to say Hi~" Matthew's thumb was on the end button when the Prussian spoke again, "Just kidding~ I'm calling cause of something my boss gave me!"

Matthew was listening again. When he had received his letter he had actually imagined Gilbert's reaction which had been something around the lines of, "What is this? The awesome me is too awesome to be spending a whole year at some fucking camp with all these less awesome nations!" Blah blah blah, the rant would continue until Matthew, Ludwig or whoever he decided to "bestow his awesomeness" on decided to walk away.

However, due to the fact that Gilbert_ hadn't _started his rant the second Matthew picked up the phone, it actually sounded as though the Prussian liked the idea.

"World Camp!" the Prussian exclaimed, "Sounds awesome right? Well not of awesome as me of course."

"Sure..." Matthew replied, still not fully comprehending what he was hearing.

"Maybe you'll even have the honor of sharing a bed with the awesome me~"

"...Wait, what?" Matthew was forever grateful for the invention of the telephone so Gilbert couldn't see the slight blush that had crept onto his cheeks.

"See yah there, Mattie!" and the phone line went dead.

Matthew stared at his phone, mouth hanging open slightly. Then he stuffed it into his pocket, walked out of the room, and turned off the lights, easily pushing what Gilbert had said off of his mind. After all, it's not like it was anything new. Making the Canadian blush had recently become Gilbert's favorite pastime.

But Matthew didn't have time to think about the albino nation, he had more lame shit to pack.

Camp started tomorrow.

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**Well that didn't take long~ :D;**

**So that's what I've got. Nothing terribly interesting yet but I've got some things up my sleeve don't you worry~ ;D**

**Prussia and Canada have pretty much become my new favorite pairing so I think I'll stick with their POV for the time being. (Though of course I'll be adding in other nations, because like I said, I love the world~)**

**Reviews are very much appreciated and will help me to continue writing! Constructive criticism is good too, I need it!**

**Thanks again~**


	2. The First Day

**Whoooo~ Chapter 2 already? That's got to be a record or something! :D**

**But really it's all because of you guys who alerted, faved, and reviewed the last chapter! You had me rolling around on my bed like Holy Roman Empire after he touched little Ita-chan! (that doesn't sound wrong.) I was constantly checking my email to see new updates! I could hardly sleep that night! It's you people that really make me want to continue writing! I never expected this so thank you so so much! :D**

**Also we had a sophomore English field trip in the city today! An hour there and an hour back on a bus full of teenagers allowed me to write most of this as well~ (Yay~)**

**This chapter is longer than the last so please look forward to it~ :3**

**Disclaimer: I STILL don't own Hetalia so don't worry about it..**

**Warnings: Language and Alcohol~ (What would a Hetalia fic be without either?)**

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Matthew found himself at the camp entrance around midday though he had originally planned to arrive earlier. That morning, like on most mornings, his alarm hadn't woken him up. In the end it was Gilbert who had called his home phone, leaving an obnoxiously loud voice mail (that Matthew swore could be heard from two miles away) asking him where the hell he was.

He had then packed up the last of his things before heading out the door, reminding Kumaseki, his polar bear companion who wouldn't be accompanying him, to turn the oven off when he was done with it, lock the doors at night, as well as all the other house rules.

Matthew didn't even give the bear enough time to say, "Who?" before he was on his way, slamming the door behind him.

Looking around his residence for the next year, Matthew realized that when his boss had said he was to attend camp, he had literally meant a _camp_. He was surrounded by open nature. The sky was blue and rays of sunshine illuminated the scene from behind wispy clouds. A warm September breeze, still carrying hints of a hot August, brushed against his skin, making him wonder why he had put on a jacket before leaving.

Large wooden cabins stood amongst tall pine trees, lining a wide dirt road that curved out into alternate pathways that lead to other facilities. The main road expanded into a large circular area where a tall structure cast its shadow. From the looks of it, it was a Watch Tower that hadn't been used in a while. The wood was dirtied with the consequences of time and the ladder that led to the top was missing a couple rungs here and there. Matthew would forever admire the nation that succeeded in the feat to the top. He reckoned a couple (idiots) would attempt it like Alfred or Gilbert. Matthew had only one thought on the matter: _Broken leg or not, there's no way in hell I'm making sympathy pancakes._

The circular meeting grounds then condensed back into the same wide road as before, leading onward until it met the muddy shores of a lake, the blue-green water glistening under the sun's rays. The gentle waves looked so inviting that Matthew was tempted to drop his bags and jump in. However, unlike his brother, he had less hastiness and more self-control. If he had to spend an entire year at this camp, he could check it out later.

Just to his left was one of the smaller paths. Looking to the side he could see that it lead to a building larger than any of the cabins and (to his relief) didn't look as battered as the old Watch Tower. _Probably the Mess Hall_, Matthew assumed. For some reason he had a feeling that the building would live up to its name after the nations had their way with it.

Just down the main road there was another skinny path and Matthew decided to make his way towards it. With one look at the smallish building, Matthew could tell this was the public washroom and bathrooms. He grimaced slightly. Normally he would have been fine with it, _who hadn't used a public restroom before?_ However, he was at camp with other nations, some more perverted than others, and with practically _open_ showers he decided then that he would prefer to take _his_ showers sometime around 3 in the morning.

Walking down the main road once more, Matthew glanced at the cabins again, wondering which one he would be staying in. Then he immediately wondered _who_ he would be sharing a cabin with. Hopefully he ended up with nations who might actually remember who he was for a change. Though he had gotten used to being practically invisible to every nation besides Alfred, Gilbert, and Francis it was still annoying to have to constantly introduce himself, knowing that he would have to again at their next encounter.

It wasn't difficult to find his cabin. Each one had the flags of its residence perched on its roof. He looked at the red and white Canadian flag as it waved in the breeze just beneath the stars and stripes of the American flag and the green, white, and red of the Italian flag. Matthew had to admit he felt slightly relieved. Though his brother was obnoxious, loud, pushy, oblivious to the atmosphere, as well as other things, it was nice to know that he wouldn't feel completely alone in the cabin.

The Italian brother too, eh? Well, they were better then some. They may not remember who he was but they were nice enough after he introduced himself. Well...Feliciano was at least. Lovino was just scary regardless. Matthew honestly couldn't understand why Antonio thought he was _cute._

Having summed up his expectations, Matthew took deep breath, walked up the creaky steps onto the small porch and in through the thin screen door.

He was met by two tall bunk beds that lined opposite walls, two small nightstands next to the bottom bunks and a circular table that was situated in the center of the room. He hadn't expected to be the first one there but that was okay, the Canadian figured with a slight smile, he got first pick. Without taking too much thought into the matter, he set his stuff on the bottom bunk of the bed on the left side of the room. There was a small window there that looked over the meeting grounds as well as a nice view of the lake. _And it was all his._

Suddenly Matthew could hear the voices of two familiar nations, the brothers he just happened to be sharing a cabin with. By the sounds of it, they were arguing.

"Dammit Feliciano you get the bottom bunk!"

"Veh~ But I wanted the top bunk~!" the other Italian whined.

"You get the bottom bunk because you're always on the bottom anyway!" Matthew raised an eyebrow. Is _this_ how they settled their arguments?

"Veh~ But so are you, Fratello~" Matthew couldn't help but grin to himself, "Big brother Spain was telling me-" Due to the cry from the younger Italian it was evident that the older had used the back of his hand to shut his brother up.

"What did the fucking bastard say!" their voices were getting closer now and Matthew could hear the creak of the steps as they approached the cabin door, "I swear to fucking Christ. If that tomato eating fucktard said anything I'll-" Lovino stopped his rant once he noticed Matthew.

Feliciano peeked his head in right after his brother and smiled at Matthew, "Veh~ Hiii~"

"Who the fuck are you?" Lovino followed, eyebrows furrowed and lips pulled into his typical grimace.

Matthew sighed, "I'm Matthew..." he paused to give the brothers a moment to see if they recognized the name. When he only saw blank faces, he continued with, "I'm Canada."

Lovino looked him up and down before shrugging it off, obviously not caring enough to search his mind for any remembrance of the nation, "Whatever." The Italian then proceeded to chuck his stuff up onto the top bunk of the opposite bed, ending the argument with Feliciano.

Not that the other Italian seemed to mind anymore, he was still looking at Matthew (well, not literally as Feliciano never opened his eyes) as if he was thinking hard about something. Matthew smiled. Maybe he actually remembered something! Feliciano stared for a moment longer before smiling again and turning away from the forgotten nation, setting his things on the bottom of the same bunk as Lovino.

Matthew sighed. Had he really thought Feliciano remembered him? He pulled out a red comforter and set it over the naked mattress, thinking to himself, _"This is going to be a long year..."_

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Matthew didn't know how long he had been starring at the ceiling. He had some idea, as it had been light out when he had started and, looking out his private window, he noticed that the sky had darkened slightly.

The cabin was empty and had been for long time. Feliciano had left almost immediately after he set his stuff down to go find Ludwig and Lovino had practically been kidnapped by Antonio not long after that.

Matthew had thought about leaving to find other nations to meet with but somewhere along that train of thought he convinced himself that he was waiting for Alfred, who _still _hadn't shown up yet. Matthew hadn't expected Alfred to be at camp early but he didn't think he'd show up after mid-afternoon.

"He must be ordering a truck load of McDonalds to last him the year." Matthew spoke out load to himself. His tranquil expression suddenly turned to one of horror as he realized how probable it was that Alfred could actually be doing that now.

The mental images of Alfred showing up at the camp entrance with a line of semis were shattered as the thin screen door slammed against the inside of the cabin. Matthew sat straight up, almost hitting his head on the bottom of the top bunk, violet eyes widening in surprise.

"Hey Mattie, where the fuck are-" Gilbert Beilschmidt suddenly spotted the Canadian, who now looked like the perfect replication of a deer in headlights.

"What the hell are you doing in here, Mattie?" the Prussian demanded with a grin, "You should be out exploring the camp with the awesome me!"

Matthew had calmed his breathing enough to reply to his albino friend, "Well I've..." He paused to remember _why_ he had been like a hermit for the last couple hours. Glancing up at his bunk he remembered, "...been waiting for Alfred."

"Bullshit." Gilbert said flatly. Matthew frowned, "I saw Alfred just a second ago anyway."

"What?" Matthew exclaimed. _What did he mean Alfred was in the camp?_ "Why hasn't he shown up to set up his stuff?"

"Hell do I know!" Gilbert reached out to grab Matthew's arm, "He's with everyone else at the Mess Hall! I was awesome enough to come find you so you didn't miss out!" Gilbert continued to pull him out of the cabin and towards the direction of the Mess Hall, whose lights had been turned on. He could even hear the buzz of loud and slightly drunk conversation of the other nations.

"It's the start of camp celebration or whatever," Gilbert continued to inform him in a louder than necessary tone of voice. If Matthew was right Gilbert had already had a drink or two, "But that's not the important part! There are _free_ drinks! I don't even have steal West's credit card and get my ass busted for it later!"

Matthew grinned at that.

The two nations pushed open the doors of the Mess Hall and Matthew was overwhelmed by sights and sounds of the celebration. Everywhere he looked, nations were laughing and talking in loud voices with each other. There wasn't a person in the room who didn't have a drink in hand and a grin on their face. (Matthew even spotted the corner of Lovino's lips curl into a small smile as Antonio wrapped an arm around his shoulders.)

Gilbert directed Matthew through the crowd to a large group of nations including Francis, Arthur, Antonio, Ludwig, Feliciano, Lovino and-

"Alfred!" Matthew yelled, just loud enough for his brother to hear him over the noise of the Mess Hall.

Alfred turned around, a wide grin in his face, "Oh hey, Mattie!"

"Why the hell haven't you shown up at the cabin yet?" Matthew asked, hoping it wasn't because of what he had been thinking about earlier.

"Oh yeah..." Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, still maintaining that stupid grin of his, "I was testing out one of the new GPSs I made at my place and the thing got me lost somewhere in Canada," with a devilish grin he added, "I don't even know where the hell Canada _is!"_

Matthew was about to show Alfred exactly where Canada was with his fist (the gentle nation could become violent when provoked) when Francis spoke.

"Now, now, boys let's be nice~" he then held up his glass of wine, "And let's have a toast. To new beginnings! Let's make our bosses proud, oui?"

Gilbert slung his arm around Matthew and put his mug into the air, "And to free beer!" Everyone (Especially Ludwig) had an extra hurrah for that.

Matthew looked around at his family and friends and found that he was quite enjoying himself. Sure, the beginning of his day at gotten off to a rough start but it was making up for itself now. He had to admit, things weren't looking so bad after all. Who knows? The bosses might actually have something going here. Maybe they could all learn to get along.

"Bloody hell! Get your hands off me this instant!"

Or so he hoped.

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**First day of camp is done! *wipes brow***

**This was fun to write though, being able to create the camp in my mind as well as type it out for you!**

**Also I simply love Lovino~ Just darling wouldn't you say? :3**

**Updates probably won't be this close in between; I just had a lot of time to write today. I have actual school tomorrow so please expect the next chapter sometime by the end of the week! :D**

**Keep reviewing!**

**I love you all by the way~ :D *hugs***


	3. Fire and Ice

**Ah welcome back~**

**I had meant to get this up last night in time to wish you all a happy Veteran's Day for all you fellow Americans and happy Remembrance Day for my Canadian friends as well as any other countries who had a holiday yesterday~ And if you didn't…um…happy late Thursday I suppose! :D**

**Thank you all so much for your continued support! The reviews, alerts, and faves are very much appreciated! ILU~ 8D**

**Oh and did any of you see the last Hetalia episode? (85 I think?) Ohmygod England dressed as an Italian with his hair gelled up and everything! I was laughing so hard!**

**Arthur you sexy beast you~**

**Lastly, (yes I will stop talking now) I hope you enjoy this chapter; it has more dialogue in it, which was fun to write, as well as a different POV stuck in there!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia…**

**Warnings: Language, alcohol mentions, ect~**

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Parties were fun. Parties with free drinks were even _more_ fun. A nasty hangover the morning after, however...not so fun. Matthew knew this all too well as he lay in his bed, feeling as though his brain was relentlessly thrashing itself against the walls of his mind. He had tried many times to simply fall back into blissful unconsciousness until he slept it off, but he had been lying there for a good half hour now and in the end Matthew decided to give in to the effects of the hangover.

He tried to stand upright long enough to look around the cabin. Alfred was still unconscious like he had been when Matthew, along with the help of Gilbert and Francis, had carried him back to his bed after the American nation passed out on one of the Mess Hall tables the night before. Matthew pushed those thoughts out if his mind as he didn't even what to reminisce on _how _they had gotten Alfred onto the top bunk. Plus just the little bit of extra thinking was making his head spin.

He looked to the other side of the room to see that the Vargas brothers were also sleeping peacefully. (Though he could hear the occasional "Veh~" coming from Feliciano as he breathed in and out.)

Matthew envied them all but only for a second as he began contemplating what he would do to get rid of his hangover if sleeping it off was no longer an option. He checked his watch to find that it was only just turning 9:00 am. Taking a cold shower in the washrooms was defiantly an option considering most of the nations had gone back to their cabins only a few short hours ago and he was most likely the only one up.

But then Matthew thought of the lake and how inviting it had looked the day before. It would get the job done just as well as a shower (and honestly Matthew hadn't been too keen on using the public showers anyway) so he decided to change quickly into a red pair of swim trunks, pack a towel, and head towards the lake.

The morning air felt cool against Matthew's skin and caused goosebumps to flourish up and down his thin arms and legs, the hair on his body standing on end in an attempt to keep him warm.

Though it made Matthew's whole body shiver, he could already feel the cool air working on his headache which was now receding into more of a dull ache rather than a battering ram against the inside of his skull.

Matthew glanced around the campsite as he walked past the Watch Tower. He had been right in thinking that he was the only nation up and about. The campsite was still as stone in the post celebration haze. Then Matthew noticed something that he hadn't yesterday. He hadn't bothered to pay attention to the cabin arrangements before now and it was just now that he noticed the cabin on the left side of the main road closest to the lake had the flags of Spain, France, and the old Prussian flag perched on it's roof.

All three of them...in a cabin..._together? _The infamous trio was known throughout History to be troublesome and even now the three nations sharing a cabin was asking for hell.

Matthew wasn't as worried for himself (for his had good relations with the trio) as he was for the rest of the camp. Knowing Gilbert, he had probably already proposed (awesome) plans to take down the establishment and conquer each nations' vital regions. Matthew decided to save his thoughts for when he needed them, however, as he found his feet had sunken slightly into the muddy shore of the lake.

Looking around again he noticed something else that he hadn't the other day. Just to the right of where the main road opened into the shore was a large circular pit composed of cinder blocks, surrounding it were long and stable looking stone benches that had been dug into the soft turf of the shore. Matthew smiled to himself as he imagined a fire burning in the pit, nations surrounding it, enjoying themselves just as they had in the Mess Hall.

He set his towel on one of the benches and stepped towards the edge if the lake. The water was calm this morning, so calm in fact that Matthew could see he reflection as he looked into it's shallow depths. He broke the calm surface as he stepped one foot in. An icy chill spiked up the nerve endings all over his body and Matthew felt his teeth begin to chatter. His hangover was long forgotten as the cold overcame his senses.

He quickly retreated his foot from the water, no longer enthralled by it's services. He had had enough by simply stepping his foot in. He didn't need to (nor did he want to) know what it would be like to have his entire body emerged in the icy waters. Sadly for Matthew, fate had planned just that.

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Gilbert rolled in his bed. He had his own bunk (because he was just that awesome) and had claimed the top (because the awesome Prussia was never on bottom) for himself before Antonio or Francis had even arrived at camp the previous day.

He didn't really know why he was wide awake, though he assumed it was from something Alfred had given him at the camp celebration. He had been drinking a beer and talking with Matthew (_not_ admiring how cute the Canadian looked when his face was flushed from the alcohol. He was too awesome and manly to think such things) when the fat ass had shoved a small can into his hand and dared him to drink it in one try. Because he was too awesome to deny any challenge, he had chugged the whole can of the highly concentrated liquid. It was then that the American bastard said it may or may not have contained bull semen.

Gilbert sat up and peeked down over at the bed across from him. Antonio was still sleeping, practically hanging out the top bed. One of his tanned arms was dangling off the side while his head rested against the very edge of the bed frame. Gilbert was greatly tempted to poke the Spanish nation awake, just to see what would happen. He was reaching his arm across when a suave voice spoke up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gilbert looked down to see Francis was looking up at him with a slightly assumed expression.

"What does it look like?" Gilbert replied, reaching his hand as far as he could towards the sleeping nation without falling off his bunk, "I'm gonna wake up, Toni!"

"Now why would you do that?" Francis got out of his bed and reached up to adjust Antonio so he was out of reach from the conspiring Prussian. The Spaniard exhaled deeply and rolled over so he was now facing the wall of the cabin, but did not wake.

"So not awesome." Gilbert pouted, swinging his legs over the side of his bunk and jumping off, landing (awesomely) on his feet, "Well I'm going to take a shower then." He pulled off his shirt and reached for a towel as well as a change of clothes, "I could probably find the source of hot water and shut it off after I'm done with it. You know. Just in case someone else wanted to take a shower today. Kesesesese~"

Francis watched as Gilbert walked to the door, chuckling to himself. He would actually prefer if the Prussian did not shut off the hot water. After all, Francis had yet to take a shower himself. Glancing out the side window he noticed a certain blonde haired Canadian nation standing alone by the lake and a brilliant idea popped into his mind.

"Oh there's Mathieu over by the lake!" Gilbert stopped and went back to the window to see for himself.

"Huh, it is Mattie." Gilbert said, peering out at Canadian nation who was just standing there, arms crossed, staring at the water, "What's he doing?"

"Whatever it is," Francis continued, taking note of the way Gilbert was looking at Matthew, "It's quite the shame he has to _alone_." He let the last worded linger in the air and to his delight, Gilbert seemed to get it.

"Well, I, being as awesome as I am, can't just let Mattie stand there like a loner! He could use my awesome presence!" And with that the Prussian was out the door, running towards the lake.

Francis, now thoroughly interested, decided to pull up a chair and observe as the scene unfolded on the other side of the glass.

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Matthew was now debating whether or not he wanted to go back and try the showers after all when he heard the sound of loud footsteps just behind him. He didn't even get the chance to turn around before whoever it was had wrapped their arms around him and tackled him, to Matthew's horror, towards the surface of the lake.

The next thing Matthew knew, he was completely emerged in the bone chilling waters. He didn't immediately feel the cold of the lake as his body was still in a state of shock. It wasn't long after, however, before his body began to go numb with cold and water started filling his mouth and nose at a rapid pace.

He flailed his arms and legs until he broke the surface again, coughing up water and wiping his hair out of his face. His attacker had also come back to the surface and was releasing a long chain of swear words, both in English and German.

"G-G-G-Gilbert!" Matthew stuttered, trying to stop his teeth from chattering long enough to yell at the Prussian, "W-w-what the fuck?"

Gilbert looked over, grinning despite the fact that his skin was slowly turning blue and his teeth were chattering as well, "M-Morning M-Mattie!"

Matthew would have punched the bastard in the mouth if his blood hadn't stop circulating in his arm. Also, it wasn't as much of a priority to beat up the Prussian as it was to get the hell out of the water as fast as possible. So Matthew used the only energy he had in his body to pull himself out onto the shore.

Matthew ran to grab his towel and wrapped it around his shoulders. It was only a bit of a comfort as the cold air was practically freezing the water against his skin. He could feel his limbs stiffening as he held them close together in an attempt to keep warm. Looking to his right, Matthew noticed that Gilbert had made it to the shore as well, carrying his things in his arms.

"R-Race you!" Gilbert yelled and Matthew watched as the Prussian sprinted off into the direction of the closest cabin, which just happened to be the trio's. Seeing as staying on the shore freezing to death wasn't doing him any good, he raced after the older nation, miraculously leaping up all three steps at once as he approached the cabin porch and threw the door open.

What Matthew did next was mainly by instinct. Without even stopping to think, he bundled himself into a large, warm, black comforter that lay on the bottom bed of the bunk on the right side of the room, not knowing that it already had an inhabitant. It was only when his body temperature had rose considerably that he stopped to take in his situation.

Matthew was glad that he face was already flushed from the heat of the cabin because, other than the comforter, he had managed to find (as well as wrap his arms tightly around) the very nation that had put him in this situation in the first place.

"I didn't know you were so clingy, Mattie~"

Matthew just looked up at Gilbert, his mouth hanging open like an idiot. He felt as though he should let go but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to release his vice like grip on the Prussian. The only words he could manage were-

"Well...I-I..." Why couldn't he talk without stuttering? "I wanted the blanket..." Matthew mentally face-palmed. Worst. Excuse. _Ever._

"Well I was here first Mattie~" replied Gilbert. He was grinning down on the Canadian, "But don't worry, I'll let you share with the awesome me." Gilbert poked at Matthew's arms that were still slung around him, "Though it looks like you've already taken full advantage~"

They just sat there for a moment, scarlet eyes looking into violet, violet looking into scarlet, neither of them really knowing what was going on between them, but neither of them cared. It was only that moment that mattered, whatever it was.

And it was shattered a second later as someone else in the cabin yawned loudly and rolled over in their bunk.

It was then that Matthew built up the strength to finally release Gilbert from his grip. For the last minute or two he had completely forgotten that they weren't the only ones in the cabin.

"Aw~" Matthew almost died of embarrassment as it was Francis, his own father figure who had been laying it the bed across from them, that had seen everything, "Antonio, mon ami, you have the worst timing."

Suddenly the Spaniard, or at least the top half, came into view as he leaned over the side of the bed frame. He wore a sleepy smile on his lips as his looked at Matthew and Gilbert, "Huh? What do yah mean I-" Antonio finally comprehended the situation and only smiled wider, "Oops, perdón~"

"Well..." said Francis, getting out of his bed and stretching, "We're all awake now, so we might as well all go get some breakfast, what do you say?" Matthew nodded slowly, unable to form words at that particular moment. Gilbert, on the other hand, was acting like nothing had even happened.

"Fuck yes!" the Prussian exclaimed, slipping out of the comforter and pulling his now wrinkled shirt over his head, "I'm starving!" he began heading towards the door when he looked behind him to see that Matthew hadn't moved yet, "Yo, Mattie! Am I going to have to drag you to the Mess Hall? Come on!" Matthew snapped out of whatever trance he was under and pulled on his shirt again, following Gilbert to the Mess Hall.

It was odd. He couldn't stop replaying those couple of moments back in his mind. He had only seen Gilbert act so gentle once before when Gilbird had come down with something and Gilbert had taken it into his own hands to nurse the little bird back to health.

Question after question was running through Matthew's head. What had come over him? What had that moment been? What did it mean?

Did he have feelings...for _Gilbert?_

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**Mon ami- My firend**

**Perdón- Sorry**

**Sorry the ending is a little rushed, my mind went a blank and I couldn't think of how to end it so there…that is what you get.**

**I decided to throw in a little romance to get things going also~**

**Hopefully you caught on that the can Alfred gave Gilbert was Red Bull. The same thing kind of happened to me as it did to Gil. I haven't had a single Red Bull since those rumors started floating around. I hate energy drinks anyway, so it's not bad. C:**

**There was one part in here that I had planned to add in at the end but I decided to leave it out. It would have messed with what's going on and would have made the story pretty long. I'll probably put it in a later chapter.**

**Speaking of later chapters, I've planned the next couple out as well as the ending. I seem to always plan the ending before everything else which is kind of a pain because now I have to come up with what I want to have happen in between. I have some ideas going that I'm excited to write! I'm thinking this story will be somewhere from 15-20 chapters? I don't really know...**

**I'm going to try and get the next chapter out by Sunday but we'll see if that happens. :D**

**You know that reviews are very much appreciated! :3**


	4. Autum Bets

**I lied about putting this up on Sunday but early Monday morning is good enough, right? :D**

**Sorry if I anyone was actually waiting for this to come out yesterday (Pffft) but I didn't realize how busy I would actually be!**

**So as an apology I stayed up late on a school night to finish this so I really hope you like this chapter! It was probably the most fun to write so far. Also the words just flowed out as I typed away which was a change. Lastly, after reading this over a couple times for mistakes I actually liked it, which is a good thing as well~**

**Thank you for all of your reviews, alerts, and faves as well! I love them so much! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the pure awesome that is Hetalia.**

**Warnings: Language~**

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**The nations had been had camp for two weeks now and as the days passed, they got colder and colder. The nights were becoming longer, the days shorter. If there were any leaves still hanging from the branches they were vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow, and brown. If not, they lay in piles about the ground. The lake had been abandoned for the time being until it was completely frozen over. However, that was still months away. It was now Oct. 1st and Matthew could see his breath when he woke up that morning.

He was surprised that things had been relatively normal between him and Gilbert since that morning in mid- September. Well, Gilbert had gotten over that "moment" (which is what Matthew had decided to call it) almost immediately but it had taken Matthew days to forget. Now, however, it had been pushed to the back of his mind, for unlike the relative normality of that situation, the situation around camp had been anything _but_ normal. The nations have been causing havoc at every given moment and if Matthew were to put a name on the main cause it would be Gilbert Beilschmidt.

The Prussian had already organized a plan to booby trap Cabin 4 with wires and oil slicked floors during the dead of night just the other day and had then been chased around camp by Ivan who had been carrying his lead pipe, grinning the whole time. Gilbert still had the bruises.

Another time he had somehow gotten a hold of an entire bag of water balloons, filled them up, scaled the Watch Tower (Matthew didn't even know how), then proceeded to throw the ice water balloons at innocent passersby, soaking them to the bone. It was only until Gilbert accidentally mistook Gilbird for a yellow balloon and threw him into Cabin 8 that he stopped.

Cabin 8 stood alone from the other cabins on its own tarnished path. The walls of the cabin were poorly put together, leaving large cracks that let in icy bursts of cold and some of the wood panels were rotting in certain places. The middle stair was broken and the torn screen door was hanging off its hinges. It had been proclaimed haunted by many of the nations. The only one willing to approach it was Arthur, as its creepy aura was perfect for his practice of Black Magic.

Its path was located between Matthew's cabin and the Mess Hall and he hated walking past it as he was now. He tried not to look but he caught himself glancing to the side, a shiver running down his spine. The decrypted old thing looked sinister, even from thirty feet away. Matthew picked up his pace, not stopping until he reached the Mess Hall doors and came face to face with a brightly colored poster. Matthew read the bold lettering, eyebrows rising. The poster read:

**Fall Dance~!**

**The first of four, fun filled, year-time dances!**

**When: November 1st: 7:00-12:00**

**Location: Under the stars on the meeting grounds.**

**Food and drinks will be served as well as loud music!**

**Casual dress is appropriate but please feel free to dress up!**

**(Please note that cameras will be placed about the camp.)**

It then proceeded to say that it was hosted by the girls, (Elizabeta presumably the main manager what with the addition of the last point), as well Feliks and Kiku.

Matthew wasn't surprised. The girls, Feliks and Kiku had made an effort to organize camp activities but Gilbert (being the ass that he is) had made it his top priority to sabotage anything they attempted to set up. So instead of being just some friendly fun, camp activities had turned into an un-spoken battle between the two to see who would give up first.

Elizabeta had organized a scavenger hunt. Gilbert had responded with mixing up most of the clues then replacing the others with fakes, resulting in poor Tino having to spend the night lost in the forest before they found him in the morning.

Elizabeta had also tried to organize a soccer game on the field located just off the edge of the camp. Gilbert had actually been all for it until Elizabeta mentioned using Gilbird as the ball to make things more challenging. Gilbert then poked a hole in all of the balls then could have used in retaliation.

By the way things have been going; Matthew figured that this Fall Dance was not going to be as "fun-filled" as the poster implied. Matthew suddenly felt his stomach growl in hunger and, forgetting the poster and the dance for the meantime, pushed the doors open and entered the Mess Hall.

He made his way through the aisles, brushing passed groups of nations, all of which didn't look up at him and entered the line for breakfast. He piled a large stack of pancakes onto his plate and then poured maple syrup all over them. Matthew didn't like these pancakes as much as his own and the syrup was defiantly not from his home but his figured as long as it wasn't England's cooking and was actually _edible_, he didn't mind.

He then made his way over to a table in the back corner of the Mess Hall and sat between Gilbert and Alfred who were both talking about the upcoming dance to anyone who cared to listen.

"So I was thinking it would be awesome if I replaced all of the music with the Prussian national anthem!" Gilbert exclaimed, grinning.

Francis sighed as he spread cream cheese on his bagel, "Why not let Elizabeta win this one, mon ami?"

Prussia looked shocked, "But the awesome me never loses! You want _her _to win? Why would you want that crazy bitch to win?"

"It's not so much about who wins what, Gil," Matthew spoke up, taking a bite if his pancakes, "But that some of us might actually enjoy the dance."

"Why thank you for being on my side..." the voice of said "crazy bitch" paused from behind them.

"Well speak of the devil, literally," Gilbert said loudly, turning around to face the Hungarian who was accompanied by Kiku.

Elizabeta leaned forward in front of Gilbert, brushing off remembering Matthew's name completely, "Oh Gilbert~" she said in a sickly sweet voice which immediately turned sinister as she continued, "Do you know how many frying pans there are in the kitchen ready to beat your sorry ass?" Matthew could see Gilbert gulp quietly. He was pretty sure that the Prussian was so physically as well as mentally scarred from all of the times Elizabeta had beaten him with a frying pan that just the mention of the cooking utensil sent a shiver down his spine.

Smiling triumphantly, Elizabeta passed out an extra flyer to each of the nation's sitting at the table, "I hope you all come! And remember, there will be cameras set up so make good decisions~" She turned to walk away but stopped as she thought of something. The Hungarian turned back to them again, smiling slightly, "Actually, do whatever you want~" And as she walked away Matthew could hear her lean over to whisper to Kiku, "The more footage the better after all~"

Slightly disturbed, Matthew folded the flyer in half and stuffed it into his pocket, leaning forward again to take another bite of his pancakes.

"The crazy bitch..." Gilbert muttered, tearing up the flyer and tossing the pieces onto Arthur's plate. Arthur glared at him and Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Come on old man. That probably tastes better than the shit you eat every day."

Francis put a hand on the now fuming Englishman before he could jump across the table to strangle the laughing Prussian, "Calmez-vous, l'amour~" then turning to Gilbert, "Why not give it a chance at least," Francis looked at Matthew, "Mathieu even said he's interested."

Matthew glanced up from his plate, looking slightly embarrassed, "Well, um...I was just saying that some might actually want to go. Not me in particular though it might be fun maybe." Matthew just decided to stop talking by stuffing a large portion of pancake into his mouth before his rambled even more.

Gilbert sat back in his chair and took a piece of his bacon, flicking it across the table at Ludwig, "Fine," Francis smiled while the rest of the table just looked shocked; "I guess I'll give the damn thing a chance." He stood up and began walking out the doors, turning back once to shout, "But if sucks I'll personally make it awesome!" and with that, the Prussian was gone.

Matthew turned back to his last pancake, not noticing that everyone was finally acknowledging him. He had made Gilbert consider being rational, something that hadn't happened since...well...never.

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Matthew left the Mess Halls a hour or so later, having stuck around to listen to what the other nations thought about the dance. Some of them, like Ludwig, Arthur, and Lovino had thought it was ridiculous that nations should be going to a dance. Francis had then pointed out that they were already going to camp so they should take in everything it has to offer. The others such as Francis, Alfred, Feliciano, and Antonio, on the other hand, thought it was a good idea for them all to get out and enjoy themselves by going.

Matthew wasn't really on either side and considering that he didn't have anything else to add to the conversation had left and was now heading back to his cabin. He had some laundry to do and the good washing machines were usually open this time of day. While he was walking past the Watch Tower, however, he was stopped when his felt something slightly heavy hit him on the top of his head.

"Ow!" Matthew swore under his breath and rubbed the spot, looking up to see that Gilbert was peeking over the side of the Watch Tower, grinning at him. Matthew then looked at the ground to see that what had hit him was a rock half the size of his fist. Matthew frowned and spoke up to the Prussian, "What was that for?"

"Shits and giggles~" Gilbert replied in a sing-song tone of voice. He paused, looking around at the campsite before looking back down at the slightly irritated Canadian, "Hey have you ever been up here, Mattie?"

Matthew shook his head, "No and I don't plan to." He put a hand on one of the wooden rungs and shook it, the whole structure shaking slightly, "I'm surprised you haven't seriously hurt yourself yet. This thing is as unstable as a castle of cards."

Gilbert leaned over the edge of the top platform, grinning at Matthew, "I'm too awesome to fall off on accident, Mattie." Matthew rolled his eyes and began walking away before Gilbert called him back, "Wait, Mattie! You have to see the view from up here!"

Matthew turned around, "Oh really? Does it challenge even _your_ awesomeness?"

"No because my awesomeness is _infinite_," Gilbert reached a hand down, "But it's still pretty awesome. Come on I'll even help you up!" Matthew looked from Gilbert's now wiggling fingers to the rickety structure and back. He paused to consider before giving into the Prussian.

"Okay but if I fall I swear to God, I will never make you pancakes again." Matthew slowly began ascending the Watch Tower, getting closer to Gilbert's out stretched hand with each step.

Gilbert grinned, "You worry too much, Mattie! Try taking the stick out of your ass and live a little!"

Matthew gave Gilbert his best glare (which Gilbert just laughed at) and reached out to take a hold of his hand. The Prussian pulled Matthew onto the platform with ease, "See? Not so bad, huh?"

Matthew sighed, "I guess not..." He trailed off as his looked out over the ledge, mouth hanging open. Gilbert had been right about one thing, the view from the Watch Tower was breath taking.

It was almost like looking over a new campsite entirely when seeing it from the same levels as the trees and Matthew felt like he was one of the birds that flew overhead in the blue sky. The main road looked much smaller as well as the cabins when the size of the surrounding forest was in full view. Looking to the other side, Matthew could see just how far the lake stretched as well as the forested land on the other side. The amount of pure, untouched nature astonished him.

"Awesome, huh?"

Matthew looked around at Gilbert who was leaning against one of the ledges, gazing off in the same direction as he was. Matthew couldn't help but notice the way the sunlight fell over him, causing the Prussian's pale skin to glow and red eyes to sparkle like- wait...what the _fuck?_ He was thinking these things about _Gilbert?_

"Mhm..." was all Matthew could manage as he turned back to watch a flock of geese fly over them, a slight blush on his cheeks. He hoped the other nation didn't notice and was relieved when the Prussian asked,

"You're actually excited for the dance?"

Matthew paused, "Well I think it could be fun. You know, with my friends here."

Gilbert was silent for a couple moments (in which Matthew became worried) before speaking up again, grinning, "I bet that Francis and Arthur will be getting it on before the dance ends."

Matthew looked absolutely horrified, "Th-those are my father figures you're talking about!" Matthew shivered as the very unwanted mental images appeared in his head, "I bet you they won't!"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Is it a bet?"

Matthew hesitated before nodding.

"Well I make another bet that Ivan will take Torris as victim the same night." Gilbert glanced over at Matthew with an expecting looked, "What do you think, Mattie?"

Matthew was grimacing, "Why such vulgar bets?"

"It's much more interesting~"

"You're starting to sound like Elizabeta."

It was Gilbert's turn to grimace, "Fuck you, Mattie. Just pick your damn terms."

Matthew paused to think about it, "I think he'll take Ravis as victim."

Gilbert nodded, "Now you pick the last bet."

Matthew thought about his last bet for a long time. Though it was easier to think of the kind of bets that Gilbert had suggested he wanted one that would truly challenge fate. After his moment of consideration, he had it. Turning to Gilbert with a slight grin he said,

"You'll actually enjoy yourself at the dance."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Alright then, Mattie." he walked over to stand beside the Canadian, "Whoever wins the most out of the three gets to pick the losers' punishment," he held out his hand to Matthew's, "Is it a bet?" There was a slight silence before Matthew took Gilbert's hand in his and shook on it.

"It's a bet."

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**Calmez-vous, l'amour- Calm down, love.**

**I had been planning this chapter out for quite some time now so I'm happy I finally put it up.**

**The next chapter might be a filler between this one and the actual dance (I don't like skipping around so much) but we'll see how that goes.**

**Also, basketball is starting for me on Wed. morning! I'm really going to try to update a chapter before then (maybe).**

**Updates will defiantly not be coming every couple of days like it has been. I'm going to try for once a week!**

**Please look forward to future chapters none the less~ :D**

**Reviews are very much appreciated!**


	5. Trick or Treat

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I didn't get this up the day I wanted to, which was yesterday, but I got it up this evening which is something I didn't think would happen so…Yay for that, I suppose~

I started basketball this morning at 6:00 a.m. and then proceeded to go through 7 ½ hours of school with two gym classes 4th and 5th period then an hour and a half of practice at 5 tonight as well! I honestly feel like I am going to keel over and die right now but I said to myself that I had to get this chapter up before I did so here you are! :D

**It's just a little filler chapter, I hope you don't mind. I had this idea and considering it's based on Halloween I really couldn't do it at any other time (obviously). It's short but it's just something to keep you guys occupied before I can get the dance chapter up! :3**

**Thanks for much for reviewing, faving, alerting and all that shtuff! You know I love it and it makes my day~**

**Disclaimer: Too tired to come up with plots to someday own Hetalia. It's not going to happen anytime soon.**

**Warnings: Language~**

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Matthew wrapped the long string of lights around the wide legs of the Watch Tower, reaching as high as he could before breaking out the ladder, climbing it, and continuing to wrap them until they reached the base of the top platform. He would them attempt to climb down, trying not to fall in the process.

He winced and swore under his breath as he slid his hand against the wood of the Tower, putting his now bleeding finger to his mouth for what seemed like the millionth time, stopping the flow of blood as the splinter began to sting painfully.

As he began stringing the lights of the other leg of the Watch Tower, Matthew thought about how he had gotten into this situation in the first place.

It had started when he had been sitting in the Mess Hall with Gilbert, Francis, Antonio, and Lovino for breakfast that morning, the day before the long awaited Fall Dance. The room had gone quiet as Elizabeta stood up onto one of the tables and announced that they needed volunteers to help set up some of the bigger things such as the lights and assembly of tables and chairs for the dance as well as help in the kitchen for the preparation of food.

Alfred was the first one to speak up, taking on the hero role of course, and volunteered himself to help. Matthew had actually been admiring his brother for taking up the challenge when the bastard went ahead and volunteered_ him _as well. The situation had only been made worse when an awkward silence filled the room because no one knew who the hell Alfred was talking about.

So there he was now, stringing lights by himself. (For his complete ass of a brother had left early, saying that he was going to go find something to eat and never came back.)

It was late and the sky had darkened before Matthew finally finished. Looking back at his handy work he had to admit that he had done a pretty good job for being by himself. When he turned the lights on it nearly covered up the dirt and grime as well as the uneasy feeling that the structure was going to fall over on you at any second. Considering this, he concluded that he had done an _amazing_ job.

Matthew yawned widely and took off his glasses so he could rub the sleep from his eyes. Now that he had stopped his work, he could feel the complete exhaustion that was over taking his body. As much as he wished he could simply curl up on the ground and sleep, he knew he would probably freeze to death by morning. It had only gotten colder and Matthew was actually surprised that it hadn't snowed yet. He slowly made his way back to his cabin which, luckily for him, was one of the ones close to the Watch Tower. This way, when he was ready to collapse, he could do so on his own bed.

Not even bothering to kick off his shoes, Matthew curled up in the red comforter and had already felt himself slip into unconsciousness when there was a loud knock at the door. From underneath his haze of exhaustion the knocking sounded muffled and distant and Matthew found that it was easy to brush off.

There was a short silence before the knocking continued, louder than before. Matthew cracked an eye open and saw a silhouette standing on the other side of the door. He groaned loudly.

"Go away..."

There was yet another pause and then-

_Knock Knock Knock_

Matthew threw off the blanket and made his way over to the door, pulling out his hockey stick he had packed along for "extermination" reasons, and opened the thin screen separating him from the person who was denying his long awaited sleep, "What do you-"

"TRICK OR TREAT, MATTIE~!"

Matthew's expression turned immediately from exhausted frustration and sudden violent rage to surprised as well as slightly amused. There was Gilbert, standing at his door, wearing a pair of dirtied bunny ears, and holing out a plastic bag, grinning at him.

"Come on~ You've got to have something to give the awesome me!"

Matthew had actually completely forgotten that it was October 31st, Halloween, what with the preparations of the dance just the next day as well as the non-stop chaos about camp. And where was he supposed to get candy, or whatever the hell Gilbert wanted, at camp anyway?

Matthew covered his mouth slightly to stop himself from laughing as his eyes caught on the bunny ears again.

"Nice ears, Gil..."

Gilbert reached up to poke them, "Well I couldn't go trick-or-treating without a costume and that Feliks guy...girl...whatever had 'em!" Gilbert pulled his hand back down and noticed some of the dirt had rubbed off and reached across the wipe it on Matthew (In which Matthew proceeded to smack him over the head with the hockey stick), "And they used to be- Ow! Fuck, Matthew!" Gilbert continued, now rubbing the side of his head, "They used to be pink and fluffy which is totally un-awesome so I rubbed them in some dirt."

Matthew face palmed and sighed deeply, looking at the Prussian standing in front of him, who seemed quite pleased with himself.

"Well I don't have anything to give you and-" then suddenly curious, Matthew looked at the plastic bag the Prussian was holding, "Did you even get anything?"

"Well," Gilbert began riffling through his bag, "West gave me a rock, Feliciano gave me a hug, the fucking cheapskate, and Arthur threw something that looked like a burnt rat. I don't know if I'm supposed to eat it or ward off evil spirits with it." Matthew grimaced and continued with what he had been saying.

"Um I don't have anything and I'd actually prefer it if you left so I can sleep." Gilbert pouted.

"So not awesome, Mattie." Matthew shrugged and began to close the door when Gilbert put his foot in the door frame, "You know they say that if you don't give me a treat I'll have to trick you~" Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"It's in the name, Gil." Gilbert ignored him and continued with a smirk.

"I think I'll save the tricks for tomorrow night, though. When the awesome me wins the bet!"

Matthew, too tired to care, didn't retort as Gilbert ran off, shouting something about meeting at the Watch Tower before the dance and also, Matthew assumed, something about being awesome as well. He instead closed the door and retreated back to his bunk, setting his hockey stick to the side and curling up in his bed once more, mumbling to himself,

"We'll see about that...Gilbunny…"

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**Gilbert's such a manly man, rubbing his bunny ears in dirt and shit. (Poor Feliks)**

**What if Gilbunny was Matthew's new nickname for Gil? XD**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it~ It was written over a couple days (because I didn't have time) so it seemed a little awkward to me but oh well~ I liked the humor anyhow! :3**

**New chapter is probably going to be up by Sunday I hope! I can't wait to write it so please look forward to what entails~!**

**Reviews and such are ALWAYS appreciated! :D**


	6. The Fall Dance

**Now! It's the chapter you have all been waiting for! (Pffft) The Fall Dance~ :D**

**I, being the procrastinator that I am, wrote almost all of this is the last 4 hours or so. (Give me break, I write on my fucking iTouch.) But wow…what a ride~ I really like this chapter. I thought it would be pain to write because of all the things I planned to fit it here but in the end I think I did a pretty good job!**

**It's a good bit longer then all the rest of the chapters so I hope you're happy with it, I worked hard on this one!**

**Oh yah, I went back and figured out how to fix all of the mistakes in my other chapters! (Oh my goodness there were a lot! :O) So they will look much cleaner now (thank God). Note that I edit all of my writing by myself so if you find a mistake or two, don't be alarmed.**

**As always, thanks for all the reviews and such! I was surprised on how much you guys like my last little filler chapter! :D;**

**Anyway, enjoy the ride and I'll see you at the bottom~!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, this is why I write fan fiction in my room while the daylight hours pass me by.**

**Warnings: Language, Alcohol mention and usage, suggestive behavior and implied sexual themes.**

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**Bright sunshine peeked in through the small window beside Matthew's bed and the Canadian squinted his eyes open. He could hear a few birds chirping on the bare branches of the surrounding trees. They were the stragglers. The birds forgotten and left behind in the Great Migration. Matthew briefly thought about how he felt the same way a lot of the time when he was suddenly tackled.

"Ack!" Matthew exclaimed as most of the air left his lungs and he struggled to push off his attacker, "What the-"

"Morning, Mattie~!" Alfred got off of his brother just in time to avoid a swipe of the Canadian's hockey stick, which seemed to appear in his hand when needed the most, "Guess what day it is!"

Matthew attempted to calm his breathing as he reached across to grab his glasses off the bedside table.

"Um...November 1st?"

Alfred rolled his eyes, "No shit, Sherlock." the American leaned against the center table, "It's the Fall Dance today, duh!"

Matthew blinked his eyes, "Oh yah..."

Alfred shook his head and stepped over, taking Matthew by the shoulder and shaking him, "Come on, Mattie! How could you forget when you spent all day setting up for it?" Matthew glared at Alfred and pushed against him.

"It wouldn't have taken all day if _someone_ hadn't left to get something to eat and never came back." Matthew looked at his brother expectantly but Alfred just cocked his head to the side, blinking his bright blue eyes.

"Huh?" Alfred questioned, "Who was that?" Matthew stared at the American for a long time, wondering if he was joking or not. He knew his brother wasn't bright but this was ridiculous. Matthew gave him a few more seconds before,

"You, you stupid idiot!" Matthew exclaimed.

"Hm..." Alfred hummed, now going through Matthew's suitcase and pulling out clothing at random, "So did you think of what you're gonna wear?" Realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere with this argument, Matthew sighed heavily and pulled off his blanket, sat on the edge of his bunk and looked into the suitcase.

"What I usually wear...?" Alfred looked at his with a, _"You've got to be kidding me"_ kind of look and Matthew frowned slightly, "What?"

"Come on, Mattie," Alfred said, looking back to the suitcase, shaking his head again, then in a joking tone, "Isn't there anyone you want to impress?"

There was a long pause in which Matthew seriously thought about what Alfred had said. _Well, there was Gilbert. But Gilbert was just a friend...wasn't he? Or did he think of him as something else? Well, considering he had paused to think about Gilbert specifically in this context, it had to mean something._

Matthew suddenly felt hot in the freezing cabin. He glanced back to Alfred who was looking at him with raised eyebrows and a wide grin on his face.

"Maaaaattie~?" Matthew realized then that he must have been sitting on his bed for a good thirty seconds, staring into space, face turning redder by the second. Before he could even defend his actions he found himself pinned to his bunk, Alfred on top of him, "Who does my little brother have a crush on~! Come on! Tell me~"

"W-what...?" Matthew stammered, struggling against Alfred's grip but to no avail, "No one!" But no matter what he said, the American was relentless.

"Is it Artie? Better not be, that's gross. What about Frenchy? Ew. Ludwig? Antonio? Feli? Kiku? Roderich? Ivan? Yao? Toris? Dare I say, Lovino?" Alfred continued to name off every nation at random, some Matthew even cringed at. He thought that Alfred would never say_ his _name until,

"What about albino? You hang out with him a lot." Matthew froze. He had meant to shake his head like he had to all the others but something came over him and the only thing that happened was that the hot feeling returned to his cheeks. Alfred looked as though he had hit the jackpot.

"You like Gilbert?" the American nation suddenly jumped off of him and headed towards the door, chuckling to himself and Matthew could do nothing but sit and watch. He fell back onto his bed, staring at the bottom of the top bunk in disbelief.

_What had he done?_

* * *

Francis stood alone in the trio's cabin (Gilbert and Antonio had already left to cause serious damage to the breakfast buffet) and was busy folding his things back into his suitcase, picking out what he would be wearing that night. Being who he was, Francis had to look best out of all the other nations, or he would be put to shame. It shouldn't be that difficult, the Frenchman thought, the rest of them have horrible taste anyway.

His thoughts were interrupted by the shouting just outside his cabin door. Curious, Francis peered out the window to see Alfred running towards the cabin porch.

"Amerique?" he questioned to himself just before the American burst through the screen door. Francis watched as the nation doubled over, breathing heavily. The Frenchman raised an eyebrow. He didn't think his cabin was too far, but then again, this was Alfred and the American nation could afford to lose a few pounds.

"Yo...Frenchy!" Alfred huffed, standing up again, "Guess what I found out~?" Francis looked at the American, arms crossed and a slight smile on his face.

"What is it, Amerique?"

"Mattie...likes Gilbert!" Alfred paused for effect and was disappointed when the Frenchman only showed slight surprise with a raise of his eyebrows, "What? Did you know already?"

"Well," Francis began, "I didn't know for sure. I had just assumed." He began to stroke the scruff on his chin, thinking, "And Mathieu told you this?"

"Yup! Well...kinda. I asked him what he was wearing to the dance and he was like, "What I usually wear?" and I was all like, "Come on, Mattie! Isn't there anyone you want to impress?" and he went all quiet and his face turned red and so I tackled him and-"

"Sacre bleu! You tackled him?"

"Yes. Now shut up and let me finish my story!" Francis leaned against the bed frame and nodded for Alfred to continue, "Anyway, then I started naming of nations and when I said, "What about albino?" he went all quiet and red again!" Alfred crossed his arms over his chest, looking quite proud of himself. Francis thought about what Alfred had said.

"Well that is quite interesting, isn't it~?" He began to pace back and forth across the cabin, rubbing his chin again, "But to know for sure we must keep an eye on them at the dance tonight."

"Yah, yah!" Alfred joined in, enthusiastically, "We should get them together. I've never really liked albino but Mattie can be such a stick in the mud sometimes. He could use someone like Gilbert."

"Yes, yes," Francis nodded, "About Mathieu that is." He stopped in his pacing to look back at Alfred, "Though we are fairly sure that Mathieu does have feelings for Gilbert, we need to find out if Gilbert feels the same about Mathieu, though I do believe he does."

"Aw that should be easy for a hero like me~" said Alfred. Francis sighed quietly, "I'll just push them into the showers together or somethin'" Francis cringed.

"You must be gentler with these things, mon ami! Gentle and romantic. Caress it~" Alfred did a perfect impression of a person vomiting. Francis frowned, realizing it was certainly going to be a challenge working with the American, "Our plan is to find out what Gilbert feels about Mathieu so I suppose we don't need to rush into things."

"Yah yah, just get albino to spill it. Easy enough," Alfred grinned a wide and toothy grin, "You can count on me, Frenchy!" the American nation began heading towards the door again, "A hero never fails!" And with that, he was off.

Francis shook his head though a smile appeared on his lips. Turning back to his laundry, he said quietly to himself, "Well this is much more interesting then I would have thought~"

* * *

It was minutes away from 7:00 and the camp was alive with excitement. Nations were everywhere, coming out of their cabins and migrating towards the meeting grounds, under the shadow of the Watch Tower.

Matthew was leaning against one of the legs of the Watch Tower, looking around as the nations crowded together at tables, already digging into the food and drinks on the far table. He thought about the past hours leading up to this moment in time.

After Alfred left, Matthew had simply laid on his bunk until his brother came back around 10 minutes later. But before he could even ask where the hell he had gone and who he told, Alfred had grabbed his own suitcase and began throwing clothes on top of the Canadian, going on about how _"As your older brother as well as a the greatest hero in the fucking world I have to make you look hot for this very important night!"_

What the hell did that mean? What was so important about it if there were going to be three other dances just like this? Maybe Matthew just didn't get this whole dance thing.

In the end, Matthew settled for some of Alfred's clothes that didn't look half bad. They included a pair of dark jeans, and a red graphic tee under a white zip-up sweatshirt. It was casual (Alfred had actually complained about it being _too_ casual) but Matthew felt comfortable and, to the humble Canadian, that's all that mattered.

After getting rid of his brother, Matthew had thought about the bets Gilbert and himself had made a month ago at this spot. He thought about his chances of winning. There was really only one that he could attempt to control. He had to make sure that Gilbert enjoyed himself, though Matthew had a feeling the Prussian would end up having a good time once he had reeked a little havoc. But the other two, those were the ones that he could only sit back and watch to see what happens. As much as Matthew wished it wasn't, Gilbert's first bet was highly probable. Francis was defiantly one to take advantage of a situation and after Arthur has had a few (dozen) drinks, he was perfectly capable of providing said situation. As for who Ivan was going to take victim, it was impossible to tell for sure as everyone was in danger of one day "becoming one with Russia, da?"

Matthew glanced around the grounds again, growing slightly impatient. Gilbert had told him, as he had ran off last night, to meet under the Watch Tower a little before the dance started and so far it was a couple minutes after 7:00 and there hadn't been any sign of him. Matthew was about to head towards the snack table when an arm was slung around his shoulder.

"Alfred I swear to God, I-" he turned his head and found that it wasn't his brother as he had assumed, but the person he had been waiting for this whole time.

Gilbert looked offended, "You thought I was your fat ass of a brother?" Matthew shook his head, about to explain when he found a better comeback.

"Sorry I didn't recognize you without the ears, Gilbunny." Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

"_Gilbunny?_" Matthew turned slightly pink and glanced away. In his delusional state of mind that he had been in the night before, it had seemed clever but now Matthew realized how stupid it sounded. Gilbert didn't seem to mind as much as Matthew and easily brushed the awkward moment right off his shoulder.

The Prussian turned to the rickety ladder of the Watch Tower and began climbing. Matthew looked up curiously, "What are you doing?" Gilbert looked down at him, a wide grin on his face.

"We gotta have a good view if we want to see who wins the bet!" Matthew looked skeptically at the structure like he had many times before. Considering that he had gone up once before and _hadn't _died, Matthew eventually sided with Gilbert and climbed up after him.

Matthew had to agree that it would be much easier to watch over the other nations from up on the Watch Tower (he supposed the structure had be rightfully named) but he couldn't help feeling like a stalker. When he told the Prussian this, the other nation just laughed.

"It's not stalking, Mattie, it's observing." Gilbert moved so that he was sitting by the ledge and motioned for Matthew to sit next to him. And there they sat, watching as things unfolded.

* * *

Alfred had looked around the entire dance but couldn't find any sign of Matthew. He was supposed to be the hero but it was proving difficult as the damsel in distress was nowhere to be found. _Where the hell had he gone?_ He noticed Francis sitting at a table beside Arthur and made his way over.

"Hey Frenchy, I haven't seen Mattie anywhere!"

"Who?" Arthur spoke up and to the Englishman's annoyance, both nations ignored him.

"Neither have I or Gilbert either," Francis bit his lip, "They'll show up eventually, I'm sure."

"Well I'm going to grab a beer until then." and Alfred walked off.

"What the bloody hell's going on?"

* * *

"Mattie! Look how creepy that is!" Matthew looked over.

"What is it?"

"Berwald was standing over by the snack table just a second ago and now he's at Tino's side again! I swear he can fucking teleport!" Matthew laughed.

"I see why Tino's always so paranoid." Gilbert turned to him and grinned.

"Hey watch this~" Matthew did watch as Gilbert picked up a small stone and aimed for where Roderich and Elizabeta were dancing. The stone hit the Austrian in the forehead, causing him to recoil in the middle of twirling Elizabeta and she fell over onto the dirty ground, dress flying up. Matthew could hear her very un-lady like speech loud and clear from where they were sitting. He turned to the Prussian who was covering his mouth, face turning red with laughter.

"Gilbert!" Matthew exclaimed. The Prussian eventually stopped laughing and looked back to the dance floor, "Wait! What the fuck?" Matthew followed Gilbert's line of sight and saw what he was looking at and rolled his eyes, "That little fucker has my ears!"

"You mean the ears that you originally "borrowed" from him?" Gilbert glanced sideways at Matthew, pouting.

"He even _washed _them! I worked so hard to make them awesome and manly!" Matthew shook his head.

"Yes, Gil. I'm sure rubbing them in dirt was a straining five whole seconds of your life."

* * *

When Alfred said he was going to grab a beer he should have said "several beers" because that's what it had turned into before long. He was taking a swig of another when Ivan made his way over, holding an entire keg of vodka in hand.

"Hello, Америка." the Russian took a seat beside the American nation, setting his keg down and looking curiously across at the drunk, "I see you've drunk quite a lot."

"No shit!" Alfred slurred, waving the beer bottle in front of Ivan's face. Though the Russian maintained an innocent looking smile the air around them got darker and heavier. (Though Alfred, who can't read the atmosphere even when _sober_, didn't notice.), "What the hell do you want, commie?"

Ivan's smile widened, "I just wanted to ask a small question, da~?"

* * *

As the dance wore on, Matthew found himself laughing and cringing more than he had in his entire life. Gilbert sure made the hours they spent up on the Watch Tower interesting.

Aside from watching the nations and throwing stones at them, he had also snuck down multiple times to steal food from the snack table, each time taking more and more until the table was barren besides the cooking Arthur had contributed. (Matthew wondered who had even let him close to a kitchen.)

He had even called down to the nations standing just beneath them, whispering sinister things and claiming to be the ghost of Cabin 8 then had pulled back on the platform and watched as the poor nation ran away quickly, all the time trying to contain their laughter.

It was nearing the end of the dance and Matthew felt sad that the fun was going to be over in a matter of minutes. He looked over at Gilbert, who was still peering over the edge of the Watch Tower, and asked,

"So did you enjoy yourself?" Gilbert looked over at him with a wide grin.

"I have to admit," the Prussian began, "This was actually pretty fucking awesome!" Matthew smiled, content that he had at least a third of the bet under his belt. He glanced back over at the dance to see that many of the nations were departing. He turned to Gilbert again.

"Maybe we should get going too-" but he was interrupted by the Prussian sitting next to him.

"Hold on! There are still two other bets left and the awesome me can't lose!" Matthew yawned and rested his chin on his arms, looking lazily over at the grounds. He actually felt his eyes closing when Gilbert poked him and pointed outward, "Look, Mattie!"

Matthew looked to where Gilbert was pointing and grimaced. There, at the camp entrance, were Francis and Arthur. They were standing a little closer than Matthew would have preferred and he could just barely see Francis's hand slip through the belt loops of Arthur's jeans, pulling him closer and-

Matthew looked away in disgust and Gilbert grinned, glancing at his watch, "And with seven minutes until midnight, it looks like I win this one~"

Matthew was shaking his head, remembering the times when he had heard pounding from downstairs while he was supposed to be sleeping when he was little. He had asked Francis about it. At the time, the Frenchman had said it was just Arthur having a fit and now Matthew realized just what kind of fit it was.

Luckily those thoughts faded as Gilbert spoke up again, "Okay so it all comes down to who Ivan takes as victim." Matthew dared to glance back at the grounds just in time to see the Russian nation carrying what looked to be another nation over his shoulder as he walked into Cabin 4. Just as Ivan closed the door, Matthew paled as he recognized the other nation as-

"...A-Alfred...?" He slowly looked to the side at Gilbert who had turned his head at the same time.

"Damn..." the Prussian said slowly, "Make sure he's got some ice in the morning..." Matthew just continued to stare at the cabin door, not blinking.

"I'm pretty sure I'm scarred for life." Gilbert put a hand on his shoulder and sighed deeply.

"Well, there comes a time in a young nation's life where he will witness his "parents" getting it on and his only brother getting brutally pounded by the biggest nation, besides me of course, what with my five meters." he looked down had Matthew, "But it's what makes us grow as nations, as well as people." Matthew stared at the Prussian for a long time. It was the most insightful yet disturbing thing he had ever heard the older nation say and it seriously fucked with his mind.

"...Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I guess not~" Gilbert stretched out his arms and put his hand on the first rung of the ladder, "Let's get out of here. What do yah say?" Matthew nodded slowly and followed Gilbert as he descended the ladder.

"This is the last song!" Elizabeta announced from the DJ stand, "Thank you all for coming and have a good night!" Her voice was then replaced by a slow song with a soft melody and steady rhythm. Matthew felt Gilbert nudge him with his elbow. The Canadian turned to see Gilbert holding out his hand and, unless the light was playing tricks on his tired eyes, there was a slight tinge of pink on the other's cheeks.

"Hey Mattie," the Prussian began, "I just kinda realized we never actually danced and cause this is the last one...do you want to dance with the awesome me?" Matthew felt his face got hot, but it wasn't uncomfortable like it had been that morning, but more like a pleasant warmth.

"Sure..." he took Gilbert's hand with a small smile and they both began swaying back and forth to the music. It was nice before,

"Wow, Mattie, you kinda suck at dancing." Matthew glared up at the older nation.

"Well you're not much better!"

"What are you talking about?" Gilbert exclaimed, "I'm awesome at dancing!" He began to pick up the pace of their steps and Matthew swore he almost fell over when the Prussian forced him into a very uncoordinated twirl. Matthew soon found himself laughing along with Gilbert as they danced out-of-sync with the music. It didn't matter though.

He couldn't hear anything over the sound of his pounding heart anyway.

* * *

Elizabeta put down her camera and yawned, looking from her newest couple of interest to Kiku, who was going through his camera as well.

"I think we've gotten all that we need~" she said, "I'd say this dance was a success, wouldn't you?" Kiku looked up and nodded.

"Yes, Elizabeta- san. Quite successful." The Hungarian glanced at the latest pictures on the camera memory. Whoever it was dancing with Gilbert just then, he was quite adorable and the two of them had sparked her interest. She turned to the Japanese nation once more.

"Now where did you say that wifi hot-spot was again?"

* * *

**Aw they both suck at dancing. I've honestly never been a huge fan myself. *shrug***

**Well there you go and uploaded when I said it would be no less! :D**

**I sincerely hope it lived up to your expectations!**

**Thank you all for sticking with this story up to Chapter 6! I love you guys~ :3**

**Also, I was slightly worried about having America call Russia a "commie" and that if might offend some people. But I figure I'm from America and I call him a fat ass all the time. So are we equal? :D *shot***

**Next chapter should be up sometime in the next week. I only have three days of school but there's basketball right afterwards and homework so I don't know…Also Thanksgiving! I'm so excited! All my family is coming over to have a big ass dinner! Whooooo~! So if I don't get this up by then, Happy Thanksgiving! :D**

**Reviews are always appreciated! You guys know that~**

**Now excuse me while I go get poor America some ice…**


	7. First Snow

**Hey what's up~?**

**I didn't actually mean to get this up so soon but I felt like shit today as I have been pretty much all week (And eating a shit load of food yesterday probably didn't help the cause) so I had lots of time to write while I lay in bed all afternoon…ugh…**

**I hope all my fellow Americans had fun getting fat yesterday (I sure did) and are enjoying the break! For everyone else, I hope you are having a good week! :)**

**Oh yah, I have been planning out future chapters all week and so far I have this fic completely planned out up to Chapter 13! Also, even by that time, we aren't even halfway through the year and there are so many other things to fit in so you guys should be with this fic for some time to come! (Lucky you…)**

**Thanks for all of the reviews and everything you guys do for this story! I love it! :D**

**This chapter isn't that long because I had a case of writers block right in the middle...D: Enjoy anyway!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, everything, including the awesome Prussia, belongs to the awesome Hidekaz Himaruya.**

**Warnings: Language, Alcohol usage, and suggestive themes.**

* * *

The camp was alive with excitement. After weeks of harsh storms that had swept over the camp just after the Fall Dance and hadn't ceased until the first week of December, snow was finally falling.

The light specks of ice fell over everything: the grounds, the trees, the cabins, as well as the Watch Tower and Mess Hall, covering them in a blanket of snow and the nations were taking full advantage. Well, most of them anyway. Matthew Williams was still fast asleep in his cabin, curled up under his sheets, not even flinching when a snowball hit the window beside his bed. There was a full-fledged war going on outside and he had no idea until-

"Mattie!" Alfred opened the cabin door; dressed head to toe is his winter gear as well as white blotches where he had already been hit. The American looked at the lump lying beneath the covers of the bottom bunk and shook his head, backing up and taking a running start before jumping on the Canadian.

Matthew woke with a start (it was hard to wake up any other way when you were being crushed underneath your brother) and flailed his arms and legs, shouting out in the "just woke up" slur, "Argh! Get offa me!"

Alfred (thankfully) removed himself from the flustered Canadian and sat down on the center table, grinning. Matthew glared at him the best he could, though it was difficult when he couldn't exactly focus on one thing without his glasses.

"I swear to God Alfred, you're like an alarm clock without an off button."

"Well thanks, Mattie!" Matthew looked over at his genuinely pleased brother and sighed, reaching across to the bedside table for his glasses as the American continued, "But really! You gotta come outside! It's snowing!" Matthew brushed some hair out of his face and raised an eyebrow.

"Like I've never seen snow before." He stood up and reached into his suitcase, taking out a sweatshirt and pulling it over his head, "I only live in fucking Canada."

"Who~?" Alfred cooed, doing a perfect impression of Kumawhatsit. Matthew hit him over the head, "Ow! But, Mattie~ Gilbert's out there!" The Canadian paused for a second, feeling a slight blush creep onto his cheeks. He looked back at Alfred who was looking at him with a wide grin on his face.

"Don't think just because Gilbert's out there that I'm going to drop everything and do whatever the hell you want."

"Then why's your hand on the door knob~?" Matthew whipped his head around and found that, yes; his hand was on the door knob. _How did that even happen?_ He turned to Alfred, still being stubborn about it all.

"Well maybe I just want some fresh air!" Matthew began to push open the door and Alfred suddenly stood up, quickly trying to make his way over to him.

"Wait! Mattie, there's-" But the Canadian never heard the rest of his sentence as a snowball hit him square in the face.

Matthew recoiled, sputtering as he heard laughter from somewhere beyond the porch of his cabin. He reached a hand up to wipe the snow of his face and spat the rest out of his mouth.

"-a snowball fight going on..." Alfred continued quietly from behind him. Matthew shook his head and closed the door again, turning back into the cabin and reaching into his suitcase for his winter coat. Alfred watched his brother dressed himself for battle and smiled.

"That's it, Mattie!" Matthew couldn't help but grin slightly as he pulled on his winter cap over his still messy blonde hair. Once he had effectively prepared himself, he made his way back to the door and looked back at Alfred.

"It's on."

* * *

Matthew had originally run out into the middle of the snowball fight as an act of revenge. However, after a couple snowballs had just barely whizzed past his nose and he somehow pulled off some ninja-like moves while dodging a snowball thrown by Vash then throwing one back in retaliation, hitting the Swiss in the side of the head, he found himself fully submerged in the fun of it all.

He was now leaning against one of the legs of the Watch Tower, his eyes scanning the campsite. It had suddenly gotten unnaturally quiet and he couldn't spot any of the nations, including Gilbert.

He actually hadn't seen Gilbert at all since he had entered the fight. Alfred had said he was out here somewhere and Matthew didn't question it. This was defiantly something Gilbert would jump into the moment it started if he hadn't started it in the first place, that is. The later was probably what had actually happened.

A cold breeze blew from the lake and Matthew shivered. He was about to move a spot with more cover when he was hit again, snow falling into his eyes. Matthew did a full 360, looking around the campsite but didn't see any sight of movement. Confused, the Canadian glanced upwards at the sky and immediately regretted it when he found his face once again freezing beneath another layer of the wet snow.

Matthew brushed the snow off his face and could clearing hear laughing from on top of the Watch Tower. _Why hadn't he thought of that before? He was the only person who had ever gotten up there besides himself._

"Gilbert!" Matthew watched at the Prussian peeked over the side of the platform.

"Oh it's you, Mattie!" Matthew frowned and shook his head, the rest of the snow falling off onto the ground, "I totally got you!" Matthew pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well you have a...height advantage." Gilbert grinned and rested his chin on his elbows, still looking at the Canadian.

"Height doesn't matter, Mattie~" Matthew could see Gilbert's expression turned into a smug smile, "It's my awesomeness that makes all the difference~" Matthew rolled his eyes, taking a step towards the lake.

"I'll leave you to it then." He began walking but was stopped as Gilbert shouted at him again.

"Wait! We should make a team!" Matthew looked back, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought you were doing just fine on your own?"

"Well you're pretty awesome, not as awesome as me of course, but if you became a part of my team it would be pretty fucking epic!" Matthew thought about what Gilbert had said. If you looked past the narcissism as well as the many "awesomes", what the Prussian had said was actually kind of..._sweet _in he own sense of the word. Matthew felt his face heat up despite the cold.

"Um...alright then..." Matthew put a hand on the first rung of the ladder and began climbing. Gilbert reached out a hand and helped Matthew up the last bit, pulling him onto the platform alongside him.

"I knew you'd agree~" said Gilbert smugly. Matthew looked over at him, slightly wide eyed. _He knew why? What had Alfred told him?_

"A-and why's that?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow and gave him a _"Isn't it obvious?" _kind of look.

"Because no one can fight my awesome logic, of course!" Matthew breathed a sigh of relief and laughed to himself.

"Yep, that's it..."

* * *

When Matthew saw Gilbert up on the Watch Tower he had momentarily wondered where he was getting snow to form snowballs. Once he had joined Gilbert, he knew.

The Prussian had apparently woken up first in the camp (This pretty much prooved correct to Matthew's assumptions about it being Gilbert who had started the snowball fight) and had created his own arsenal of snowballs that piled up to about 4 feet tall in some places and took up almost the entire platform, barely leaving enough room for one person, let alone two. This caused Matthew to have to sit side by side with Gilbert, which he didn't mind at all.

Almost the second Matthew was onto of the Watch Tower all hell broke as Gilbert threw a snowball out into the open, hitting Arthur (who apparently wasn't too much of a mature gentleman to join in) and snowballs were flying every which way once more. Matthew was sincerly glad that he was above it all.

The two of them took full advantage of their location, taking snowballs and sniping off nations one by one. They created a kind if system where Matthew (who had keener eyesight with his glasses) would spot one of the nations, supply Gilbert (who had a better arm) with a snowball who would then throw it, with almost perfect accuracy, and hit a poor nation who never saw it coming.

This went on until Elizabeta announced from the porch of Cabin 5 that there was hot chocolate to be served in the Mess Hall, which would momentarily act as a safe house.

It was amazing how fast some of the nations came out of hiding and raced towards the Mess Hall, many passing underneath the Watch Tower. Matthew had to admit he could go for a hot chocolate at the moment, but instead, he waited patiently as Gilbert used the rest of the snowballs on the passing nations. In the end, more than half were hit more times in that 20 second span of time than throughout the entire hour the fight had gone on.

Once Gilbert was satisfied the both of them descended the Watch Tower and made their way over to the Mess Hall. Matthew opened the doors and almost immediately thawed as a warm burst if air engulfed him. He looked around the room and saw every nation had gathered together and were sipping the warm chocolaty substance from large mugs. Not one of them (with the exception of Gilbert) hadn't been hit with a snowball and many, like Matthew, were living up the warmth of the room.

"Hey, let's sit over here!" Gilbert took Matthew by the arm and led him over by the fireplace, where hot flames flickered inside the walls of brick. The Prussian sat down close to the fire and pulled off his gloves, warming his hands. He look behind him and motioned for Matthew to sit beside him, "Come, Mattie! Aren't you freezing?"

Matthew nodded and sat beside the Prussian, pulling off his gloves first then his cap and he suddenly heard Gilbert snicker next to him.

"What?" Matthew asked, frowning slightly as he held his hands to the fire.

"Dude, you have some _serious_ hat head!" Matthew reached up to pat his hair and found that it stood up nearly 10 inches higher than normal. It's not like it wasn't bound to happen. Matthew never brushed out his bed head and had a cap on for the last hour or so. He was actually surprised it wasn't worse.

He blushed furiously and attempted to pat it down but Gilbert grabbed his wrists and lowered them to his side. Matthew felt his heart skip a beat and he looked over at him to find that the Prussian was wearing a very uncharacteristically soft smile.

"It's fine..." Gilbert released his hands and glanced up at Matthew's hair again and laughed, "It's actually kinda awesome." He reached up to poke it, "It fucking defies gravity!"

Matthew tilted his head to the side and Gilbert burst out into laughter as the blonde's hair didn't move an inch but remained perfectly in shape. Matthew couldn't help but laugh along with the Prussian and soon both of them were (literally) rolling on the floor, laughing their asses off.

"Qu'est-ce qu'il se passe~?" Matthew stopped in his laughter and looked up to see Francis looking down on them both, "Did I miss something~?" Gilbert sat up again and pointed at Matthew.

"Francis! Look at Mattie's hair!" The Frenchman looked curiously over at Matthew, as the Canadian sat up as well, and a hand flew to his mouth.

"Oh my!" Matthew pouted slightly and poked at it. Francis then smiled and said teasingly, "That is quite the look Mathieu~"

"Oh shut up..." Matthew mumbled, attempting to pat it down once more. Francis chuckled and handed them both a hot chocolate from a neighboring table. Matthew took it gladly.

"You know I'm teasing you, Mathieu~" Francis said with a smile, sipping from his own cup.

"And I'm sure he's not the only one you've been teasing, eh Francis?" Gilbert asked with a grin, sipping from his own mug, "How has it been going with Arthur~?" The Frenchman replied with a knowing smile and Matthew decided then and there that it was a good time to take his leave...

...and brush his hair...

* * *

The hours passed by as the nations lay back in the Mess Hall, staying out of the cold of winter as long as they could. Though eventually, as the daylight hours became shorter, sleep began to fill many of the nations' eyes and one by one they left for their own cabins. By the time midnight came around, only three nations remained, the Bad Touch Trio, and they were all dangerously drunk.

"Hey look~!" Antonio slurred as the three of them walked out of the Mess Hall doors, hanging onto each other for balance, "There's snow~!"

"No shit, Toni!" Gilbert followed, almost falling over as leaned forward to look at the Spaniard, "It was there this morning!"

"Hmmm~" Antonio hummed, grinning as he detached himself from Francis's side and fell into the snow. He then proceeded to move his arms back and forth in an uncoordinated fashion, "You can make snow angels~"

Gilbert, in his drunken state of mind, thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen and fell over laughing.

"Toni, you tard! Move over and let the awesome me try!" Antonio moved to the side slightly and let Gilbert lay down next to him and the Prussian began moving his arms and legs in the same way.

Francis, tipsy as well though much more civilized and controlled than his friends stood and watched, smiling and shaking his head, "Sacre bleu! You're both going to freeze to death." Both Antonio and Gilbert ignored him as they leaned up to look at their creations.

"Aw~" Antonio cooed, "I'm going to name mine Lovi cause it's so cute~" Gilbert laughed again.

"Well I'm going to name mine..." The Prussian paused and scratched his chin, thinking as hard as his clouded mind could, "Mattie!" Francis's ears perked up at this and he crouched down to their level, raising an eyebrow.

"Mathieu~?" he said, looking at the Prussian, "And why's that~?"

Gilbert looked at Francis, a slight tinge of pink on his otherwise pale cheeks, "Well, cause he's almost as awesome as me!" The Prussian paused and thought about what else he liked about his Canadian friend. As they ran though his head he couldn't believe that he, being as awesome as he was, thought so many un-manly things about Mattie, but he couldn't help but say them anyway.

"And he always goes along with my awesome plans. He lets me crash at his place when West kicks me out and his pancakes are the shit!" Gilbert grinned to himself and fell back into the snow, "Not to mention he's cute when he blushes but can kick your ass with a hockey stick."

"Giiiiil~" Antonio spoke up again, giggling, "Sounds like you're in loooove with this Mattie guy~" Gilbert reaches across to hit Antonio but the Spaniard dodged it and continued to laugh, "Why haven't you made a move yet?"

Gilbert sat up and looked over at his friend, "I'll make a move when I'm good and ready, dammit!" Gilbert grinned and then retorted, "Cause, unlike you, I'm the one running my relationship!"

"Can't run a relationship when you're not in one~"

Francis sat back and watched as Gilbert tackled Antonio, shouting things that, honestly, didn't help his situation at all while the Spaniard continued to laugh.

What Gilbert had said defiantly sparked Francis's interest and assured him that this was defiantly a two-sided situation, which made things much easier for him.

Mathieu and Gilbert, huh~?

So it begins~

* * *

**-Qu'est-ce qu'il se passe- What's this?**

**Aha! The great and awesome Prussia has feelings for Canada after all! :D**

**I figured it was about time that I had him share his feeling with our all-knowing France even if it took a few dozen drinks to do it.**

**Also when I add in French or Spanish or whatever language other than English into my story and rely completely on Google translate; feel free to correct me if it's wrong.**

**Next chapter will be up in the next week, I'm not aiming for a specific day…*shrug***

**But things are going to get exciting so look forward to it!**

**Reviews are very appreciated like always! :D**


	8. The Plan

**Wow. It hasn't even been a month since I started writing this and we're already on Chapter 8!**

**Sorry for the kinda late chapter, though. I was going to write this and put it up on Friday but my week was really busy (plus I had a slight case of writer's block in the middle D:) and then over the weekend I was actually writing my other Spamano fic that I just started, _A Trip To Spain Can Only End In..., _so sorry~!**

**This chapter is a little shorter because it's actually setting stuff up for things that will happen in later chapters. I hope you like it anyway!**

**I just wanted to say thank you to _inunobaka_for correcting my French in the last chapter! Damn Google translate! D8**

**Also, thank you guys for the continued support by reviewing, alerting, and faving~ I Love It~ C:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. D:**

**Warnings: A bit of Language.**

* * *

As well as the arrival of snow, the weather had been cold enough, over the last couple weeks, that the lake had frozen over and the ice was now a good three feet deep. Saying that Matthew Williams had taken full advantage to show off a bit of kick-ass Canadian hockey skills would be considered an understatement.

_There. An opening just beside his left foot._

Matthew's skates graced smoothly over the rough ice below him as he made his way closer to the opposing goal, keeping the puck perfectly protected by the skillful movements of his hockey stick.

His violet eyes scanned the scene in front of him. Though Alfred was quick at getting up and down the ice, he lacked the strategic aspect of the game. The American couldn't tell that he was leaning heavily to the right, leaving his left side almost completely unprotected. There was no way he could possibly defend a shot from Matthew at this close a distance.

Gaining a few feet of ice just in case, Matthew brought his hockey stick back and swung forward, hitting the puck hard. It shot like a bullet over the ice and was cradled by the net behind Alfred a second later.

_Too easy._

Alfred whipped around, "Dammit!" Matthew grinned to himself and did his own little victory lap around behind Alfred's goal before skating off towards the shore.

He had been playing hockey nearly 24/7 ever since the nations had cleared the snow off a rectangular section on the lake and he decided that a short nap would be a good idea. Alfred, who apparently had other plans, shouted after him.

"Hey, Mattie!" I want a rematch dammit!" Matthew sighed. _Another rematch?_This was the fourth already and Alfred (in the Canadian's opinion) wasn't improving in the slightest. He skidded slightly and turned back to face the pouting American nation.

"Haven't you relived the Vancouver Olympics enough for one day?" Alfred dramatically clutched his heart.

"That hurts, Mattie. That really hurts." Matthew sighed and rolled his eyes.

Alfred wasn't very used to losing and it was kind of his thing to finish (and specifically,_ to win_) whatever he started. He always said that it was because he was a hero and heroes never gave up until the deed was done, but Matthew knew the real reason. Alfred just had too big of an ego to let something slip away from him when he had it in grasp. And this is why Matthew predicted the very next line that came from the American's lips.

"Rematch later then! I'm gonna win this time!"

"Alright alright..." Matthew sighed. It's not that he was completely opposed to it. Actually, he was perfectly content with coming back for some more American _ass-kicking_. After he was well rested, that is.

Matthew hopped back onto the still snowy turf of camp where he assumed the Main Road was (it was becoming difficult to tell with a good couple inches of snow on the ground) and began walking back to his cabin. He noticed, just after taking a couple of steps, that there was a small stone in his skate that was digging painfully into the heel of his foot. It was fine for now, Matthew figured, he would get it when he reached his cabin.

Matthew approached the meeting grounds and was suddenly greeted by a row of snowmen just as tall as he was. Confused, for the snowmen hadn't been there when he had left for the lake early that morning, he peeked around the snowy figures shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Gil." he said, walking around the snowman, "What are you doing?"

Gilbert glanced up from the ball of snow he had been busy rolling around the Watch Tower and stood up, "Oh, hey Mattie!" he brushed off his gloves and then proceeded to pick up the watermelon sized snowball and place it on top of the headless body of a snowman to his right, "And what do you mean 'What are you doing?' You can't tell?"

Matthew looked up and down the line of snowmen again and then back at Gilbert, a hint of a smug smile on the Canadian's lip, "Are you making yourself some friends?"

Gilbert instantly scowled, "Don't associate the awesome me with these _bastards_!" Matthew raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh as it looked to him like Gilbert was completely dead serious.

"Aw, Gil. What has the snow ever done to you?"

"They're not _just_ snow, Mattie," said Gilbert as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, "It's that bastard, Ivan's army!" Matthew tilted his head to the side, blinking a couple times.

"What?"

Gilbert sighed and walked up to Matthew, taking his shoulders and turning him around so the both of them were facing the camp entrance. Matthew could hear Gilbert speak up again right next to his ear. He tried to focus on what the Prussian was saying but found it difficult with his breath tickling his ear like that.

"I'm going to make a huge fucking boulder right up there by the camp entrance," Gilbert said, pointing out to it. It was clear to Matthew, as the Prussian continued to explain his plan, that he was quite excited about the idea, "Then when it's ready, I'm gonna let it go and it'll come crashing down and destroy the bastard's army!" Gilbert reached his head around Matthew's shoulder to grin widely and added, "It'll be awesome!"

Matthew raised a curious eyebrow and turned his head to meet Gilbert's eyes, "I wish you luck as you go off to battle, General Beilschmidt." He also added a salute for good measure.

Gilbert nodded, following along, and stepped back to salute Matthew as well, "Thank you General Williams, your awesome good wishes are very much appreciated." They both cracked a grin and Matthew separated himself from the Prussian, waving as he walked back in the direction of his cabin.

Once more, without the distraction of Gilbert, he could feel the stone digging into his heel again. Normally the generally soft-tempered Canadian could brush off such a thing as a rock in his skate but something about this one drove his patience over the edge.

Matthew reached his cabin and sat down on the porch steps, hastily pulling off his skate. Reaching inside, he pulled out the damn stone and tossed it to the side. Feeling content once more, Matthew leaned back against the porch steps and glanced briefly over in the direction of the camp entrance.

This is when he noticed something.

There was a large pine tree just to the left of his cabin. It reached high into the sky with its many branches and green needles. Matthew hadn't paid much attention to it before, despite it being one of the larger trees in the camp area; it had just kind of been there.

But now when Matthew looked at it closely he could see a large crack, splitting the bark, right down the middle of the thick trunk. Looking upwards, he could see that it continued farther up, disappearing into the dense higher branches.

_How long had that been there?_

Matthew reached out and ran his finger down the crack. Now that he thought about it, it might have been there for quite some time but the storms during the last month must have made it worse.

The Canadian didn't think much more about it, however, as he yawned widely when the effects of exhaustion hit him hard. He stood up, carrying his skate by the laces, and walked back inside, forgetting about the crack for the time being as he heard the distant shouting of a certain Prussian as one of the "soldiers'" heads fell off.

* * *

It wasn't until later that night that Matthew realized that accidentally taking a _3 hour nap _wasn't such a good idea. He had been starring at the bottom of Alfred's bed for at least the last hour or so and he didn't feel tired in the least.

Sighing heavily, he finally decided to pull himself out of his bed. Maybe a walk around camp would do him good. So Matthew pulled on his winter jacket and a hat and walked out of the cabin door into the night.

A snowflake landed on his nose as he glanced up at the sky._ It was snowing again?_ Matthew didn't mind though. Considering more than half of himself was arctic territory he was more than used to the snow.

He began walking towards the direction of the lake, leaving behind a path of his footprints as he did so. As he approached the Watch Tower he was shocked go find that the army Gilbert had begun making that day had grown to more than three times its previous size. There had to be at least 70 snowmen (soldiers) lined up perfectly in neat rows of 10 spanning outward along the Main Path.

Matthew curiously approached the front ranks and observed the first snowman he came across. He could see that the expression on its face was something between shock and stupidity. Its snowy eyes were cross-eyed and its mouth was wide open as it faced the direction of the camp entrance. Glancing at its neighbors it looked as though Gilbert had taken the time to create the others in the same way.

Matthew shook his head and laughed quietly as he continued through the ranks. He was rounding another of the six foot snowmen when he suddenly ran into something that defiantly did not consist of snow, though it was just as cold.

"Hey! What the fuck?" The other shouted, stumbling over Matthew. He knew that voice and recognized the figure as he sat up and brushed the snow if his face.

"Gilbert?"

"Mattie?" Gilbert looked down on Matthew. Matthew could hear him sniffling though he wore his typical grin. The Prussian held out his hand and helped Matthew up, "What are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep," Matthew replied, brushing himself off, "I could be asking you the same question, though. What are you still doing out here? You'll catch something in this cold!" Gilbert grinned and leaned forward slightly.

"You worried about me, Mattie~?" Matthew felt a slight blush grace his cheeks.

"Well you're my friend so, yah, I am!" Gilbert shook his head and "kesesesed".

"Come on, Mattie," he said, turning back to the snowman beside him, "I'm too awesome to get sick from some cold weather!" The Prussian then sneezed loudly, contradicting his statement, "I'm almost done anyway."

"You mean you're going to make _more_?" Gilbert looked around at the Canadian and nodded, pointing off to the last row of snowmen closest to the lake.

"Yah, just three more back there!" It was almost as if a light bulb went off in the Prussian's mind as he turned back to Matthew with a smirk.

"You know, I would be done much faster if I had help from a certain Canadian I happen to know~" Matthew rolled his eyes but couldn't help but laugh.

"You're just looking for free labor."

"And what if I am?" Matthew looked at the stupid grin on Gilbert's face for a couple moments before giving in.

"Fine."

"Hells yah!" Gilbert reached out to grab Matthew's arms and began pulling them both through ranks upon ranks of snowmen until they were both standing amongst the last row, "Alright so get some snow and start rolling them into big boulders!"

"I know how to build a snowman, Gil." said Matthew has he bent over to build up a small ball of snow, "I happen to be from Canada."

"Who~?" chimed in Gilbert's voice from behind one of the snowmen in front of him. Matthew frowned and rolled up another snowball and lobbed it over the snowman, feeling satisfied when he heard a surprised yelp from the Prussian.

"I could just go back to my cabin now, you know." Matthew spoke up, beginning to push the small boulder around in the snow.

"Yah but you won't~"

Gilbert knew him too well.

Matthew watched as Gilbert pushed the bottom boulder of the new recruit next to the others and Matthew picked up his slightly smaller one and placed it on top.

"See we're making progress!" Matthew smiled slightly.

"Yah I guess so..." Gilbert glanced over at his Canadian friend before walking off to start building the head.

"So how are you liking camp, Mattie?" Slightly surprised by the sudden question, Matthew spoke up slowly.

"Uh...It's been good..." he said, looking over at the Prussian as he placed the head on top of the midsection, completing another soldier, "Better than I thought." Matthew paused before adding, "What about you?"

"Me? Oh I think it's been awesome," said Gilbert as he began engraving the standard facial expression onto the snowman's face, "I mean, we don't have to worry about anything here! It's like a year without work!"

"Yah that's been nice." Matthew replied.

"And we do awesome stuff every day."

"If you don't sabotage it first."

"And we drink beer without having to pay for it."

"Sometimes more than we should."

"And everyone's been pretty awesome actually."

"Mhm."

"And some have even been hitting it off."

"...yah...?"

"Like Francis and Arthur, Antonio and Lovino, Elizabeta and Roderich..." As Gilbert continued to name off the nations and their "relationships", Matthew realized just how many couples had formed or had been previously formed and was shocked to find that he was in the _minority._

"Even West got Feli..." Gilbert trailed off slightly and Matthew was about to speak up when the Prussian beat him to it, "And if they can, I was thinking, you know..."

Matthew glanced up at Gilbert who looked like he was having some sort of starring contest with the snowman they had just built. Also, unless Matthew's eyes deceived him, it looked like the normally pale cheeks of the Prussian had become slightly pink.

"Well...why can't...we-" Suddenly a large sneeze overcame the Prussian nation, causing him to fall over into the snow. Matthew sat up straight and looked over at his friend.

"Uh...Gil?" Gilbert groaned and sat up again, brushing the snow out of his hair and sniffled slightly, reaching up to rub his nose.

"Damn..." There was a slightly awkward pause before Matthew spoke up again, feeling his cheeks redden.

"Er...you were saying?" Gilbert looked over.

"Huh? Oh..." the Prussian looked slightly embarrassed (an expression Matthew did not see much from him) and stood up, "Never mind." Matthew frowned and stood up as well.

"Okay then?"

Both of them then continued to work in a more than painfully awkward silence. Matthew couldn't help but thinking about all that Gilbert had said.

How was it that he was in the minority? Though now that he thought about it, it was better to think how did mostly_ everyone _at camp manage to find "another" already?

And how was Gilbert going to finish that sentence?

_"Well why can't we..."_

Why can't we..._what? _What was Gilbert going to say?

It wasn't long before they had finished the rest of the snowmen soldiers, completing the last of Gilbert's "enemies". The two nations stood side by side looking at their work when Matthew prodded Gilbert in the side.

"You're going to go to bed now right?"

"Yes, Mom." Gilbert replied and Matthew felt slightly relieved when he saw a grin on the Prussian's lips.

"Well I'm going to go too then."

"Alright."

Matthew began walking back through the snowmen as Gilbert walked in the opposite direction towards his own cabin.

"Oh!" Matthew looked back as the Prussian turned around suddenly, "I forgot to say thanks for the help! You're awesome Mattie!" Matthew smiled.

"Good night, General Beilschmidt." Gilbert's grin widened and he saluted Matthew just as before.

"Sweet dreams, General Williams."

* * *

**8D**

***shot***

**Oh I just had to~ I'm that kinda person who needs fluff to survive and I couldn't help but adding just a little in there~**

**So I hope you guys liked it. Even though it's short I actually didn't mean to make it this long. I kinda added in the last bit as an extra at the last second but I like how it turned out!**

**Next chapter should be coming in the next week or so (maybe, you know how things are).**

**Speaking of the next chapter, I predict a bit of Truth or Dare and I need you guys to help me come up with good ones that I can possibly use, please~ I've always been bad at coming up with them myself and the Internet always gives me cheesy ones that suck! D:**

**You can suggest general truths or dares but if you want you can also give me one speciffically for two or more of the nations! ;3**

**I can't wait to see them!**

**Thanks for everything and reviews are very much appreciated! :D**


	9. Truth or Dare

**Wow. Where have I been with this fic?**

**I'm sorry, guys. After saying that I would try to update every week, I go ahead and stall for almost a month! D: I do feel bad that I procrastinated this long, believe me. I wanted to put in Truth or Dare but honestly I was intimidated by the idea of writing it! I hope I did a good job and you like it though! Hopefully this chapter didn't turn out too weird because I didn't reread it that many times. *shrug***

**Also, thank you to all of you who gave me ideas for Truth or Dare! I used a bunch of them in some form or another whether I switched them around a little or not! I really appreciate it because without them it probably wouldn't have been so interesting! XD**

**Like always, thanks for the continued support of this story! I love you guys! **

**Notes: Kaoru is Hong Kong and Lili is Lichtenstein.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Hetalia I wouldn't be making Fanfictions.**

**Warnings: Slight Language and Implied Sexual Themes.**

* * *

Matthew was surprised.

Ever since the announcement that he would be going to camp with the other nations he had never thought that things would actually be sort of, relatively…_normal._

Sure. Things had begun a bit strangely but it seemed, with the coming of snow and the winter holidays, things were starting to calm down. There hadn't been conflicts between any of the nations, Gilbert hadn't set up any active plots to invade everyone's vital regions, everyone (besides Alfred of course) had yet to "become on with Russia, da?", and even Elizabeta had momentarily put activities on hold. And it was just….

_Weird._

Yes. Never in all of Matthew's years of being a nation had things ever been this calm. And not just calm in a literal sense, but calm in that it seemed as though everyone had put their differences aside for the time being. Had this been what the bosses wanted? Because it was working. The only event of momentary interest was Gilbert's endeavors to take down Ivan's army.

Well. _Snow_ army that is.

It had only been a couple days since the ambitious ex-nation set up the 70 some snow soldiers in front of the Watch Tower and had gone to work on building his "weapon of mass destruction", a 6ft by 6ft snow boulder in progress that sat at the main entrance, that Gilbert had so lovingly named Gilbomb. (Creative, eh?)

Besides playing hockey on the lake, Matthew found himself spending more and more of his time with Gilbert as he packed snow on the boulder.

"Yah it's gonna be huge! You see, Mattie, I wanted it to represent just how awesome I am but then I realized there wasn't enough snow."

"Someone's modest."

"You know me."

The whole ordeal, in a nutshell, had become quite the camp phenomenon.

Matthew now found himself at the Mess Hall, however, enjoying a heaping pile of pancakes while listening to Antonio and Lovino having what Francis would call a "lover's spat", though Matthew thought it was very one-sided.

"Dammit Antonio! Would you stop touching me for just one second?" Lovino hissed, scooting away from the Spanish nation, grimacing despite his blushing face. Antonio pouted and leaned forward on the table.

"Oh but, Lovi~ I thought you liked it when I touch you~!" he said, then smiling slightly, green eyes glinting, "At least you said so in showers last night when we-"

"WHAT THE FUCK? DON'T JUST GO AROUND YELLING THOSE THINGS TO THE WORLD YOU BASTARD!"

"_You're_ the one whose yelling, Lovi~"

"S-SHUT UP!"

"God, you two are so gay." Gilbert interrupted, taking another large bite out of his breakfast sausage.

"Like you should talk!" Alfred jumped in, grinning at the slightly confused Prussian, "I've seen the way you look at Mattie!" Matthew looked up, tilting his head to the side. Gilbert stood up in his seat, looking almost flustered, "Everyone has!"

"The hell are you talking about? Mattie and I are just best friends!" Matthew smiled at this, "Maybe you should find one!"

"Sure, sure," Alfred continued, still grinning as he looked down at his empty plate, completely ignoring Gilbert's last comment.

"How about you tell us what becoming one with Russia was, huh? Come on, enlighten all of us if you know what you're talking about!"

"What? What are you even-"

"Now, now," Francis butt in, raising his hands in an attempt to quiet the table, "Let's calm down now, it's still only morning. We've all been getting along thus far so let's-"

"ATTENTION EVERYONE!"

Matthew looked up from the growing chaos at his own table to see Elizabeta standing on top of one of the tables in the middle of the room.

"I personally feel it's been way too quite around here!" Matthew raised an eyebrow. So he wasn't the only one, eh? "So we've planned to have a game of Truth or Dare take place out at the bonfire pit!"

"You would pick the coldest day of the year to plan an activity outside wouldn't you?" Gilbert sneered, sitting back in his seat, arms crossed. He did have a bit of a point though. Matthew would have thought it couldn't get any colder with the passing months, but he had been wrong. The temperature outside was reaching into the negatives with wind chill some nights and everyone had preferred to stick to the warmth of the inside instead of spending time outside. (Gilbert was the exception, however.)

"I thought you would be immune to the cold by now, Gilbert?" Elizabeta shot back, smirking. Matthew could see Gilbert's smug smile turn downwards for a moment before he retorted with:

"Of course, I'll be fine! I was thinking about…" Gilbert's eyes roamed the table and they suddenly landed on Matthew. Matthew tried to shake his head, pleading that Gilbert didn't bring him into this, but it seemed the Prussian nation didn't notice…or didn't care. Probably the later.

"What about Mattie here?" Gilbert aksed, throwing an arm around the reluctant Canadian, "He'll freeze!"

"Wait…who?" Elizabeta asked, peering at the two of them. Before anyone else could speak on his behalf, Matthew spoke up, squirming his way out of Gilbert's grip.

"Nothing. I'll be _fine_." He emphasized the last word, shooting a look at Gilbert in which the other nation just smirked.

"Well okay then! Truth or Dare starts at 7:00 at the bonfire pit! Attendance is mandatory so don't try sneaking out of it! We'll find you~" And on that ominous note, Elizabeta stepped down off of the table and chatter began in the Mess Hall again.

"Thanks for that Gil."

"No problem, Mattie."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Mhm~" Getting the strong feeling that the conversation with the Prussian was a lost cause; Matthew turned back to his pancakes and took another bite.

Truth or Dare? Sounded…interesting enough. Not good or bad. Just _interesting._ Because anything that had to do with Elizabeta was sure to be. Oh, and Gilbert. Matthew glanced over to find the Prussian ready with some sort of spoon-catapult armed with a breakfast sausage aimed at Ludwig.

Sighing heavily as all hell broke loose once more, Matthew seriously wondered whether or not he should risk skipping tonight.

* * *

Francis was one of the last to leave the Mess Hall after breakfast. He had, of course, planned it this way for he needed to have a small talk with someone. Luckily, said person had yet to leave as well and with the corners of his lips turned up, the Frenchman made his way over.

"Ah, Elizabeta!" he started, adding a charming smile, "May I have a word?" Elizabeta seemed to notice the scheming look in the French nation's eyes and nodded, smiling to herself.

"Why of course!" she said, sitting back down at one of the tables, "What is it Francis?"

"Now I'm not going to draw this out but instead get straight to the point for we only have so much time."

"Go on."

"I think it is about time that we give Gilbert and Matthew an extra _push_." Elizabeta paused and bit her lower lip, like she was thinking back about something.

"Matthew?" she finally asked, "It sounds familiar but…"

"Canada?" Francis tried. Elizabeta shook her head slowly and Francis sighed, "The one that Gilbert mentioned earlier during your announcement?"

"Ah, him! Yes…" Elizabeta smiled and leaned back, arms crossed, "Is he new?"

"No, not at all. Now I was thinking-"

"Are you sure? I never seem to see him around much and-"

"Elizabeta, _please_…"

"Oh sorry, continue please." Francis sighed again and leaned forward across the table towards the Hungarian nation.

"I was pondering the thought of possibly coming up with some sort of truth or dare that would "help the two or them out" so to speak. You see I was-"

"I got it."

"…Already?" Elizabeta shook her head at the French nation, a wide and mischievous grin appearing on her lips.

"Please don't underestimate me, Francis. I'm more than experienced with this sort of thing."

"Well of course, this is why I came to you after all." It was Francis's turn to lean back in his chair, "Now, pray tell, what are you planning?" Elizabeta stood up and put her palms flat on the table.

"Okay, this is how it's going to work…"

* * *

"Mattie! Come on! It's time to go down to the bonfire pit! Hey are you-…Mattie?"

Alfred peered down at his brother as the Canadian lay on his bunk, groaning quietly, "Hey what's wrong with you?"

Matthew looked up at the American nation from under his forearm which had been slung over his face some time back, "I just don't feel good."

"You don't feel good?" Alfred asked, sitting down on the bunk alongside Matthew, "Is it with your country or what?" Slightly surprised that Alfred was being this "_brotherly_" and not simply forcing him out of the cabin like usual, Matthew risked sitting up slightly so he could reply.

"No I don't think so. I think it's just some sort of human sickness."

"Or nerves."

"Why nerves?" Alfred grinned.

"Well we _are _going to play Truth or Dare, where _anything_ could happen between you and a certain…_Prussian_ nation?"

And Alfred was actually being the least bit _bearable _for once.

"Shut up, Alfred." Matthew groaned, standing up none the less and throwing on his coat. The American grinned and stood up as well.

"So you're going?"

"Between you, Gilbert, and Elizabeta, I figure I'll end up going anyway, by my own free will or not." Alfred just laughed.

"Good choice, bro."

"Yah whatever."

* * *

"Feliciano."

"Dare!"

Matthew sat on one of the benches surrounding the bonfire and turned his head to the side to look at Gilbert, who was sitting to his left, and then to Alfred, who was sitting to his right. They had only been sitting there, all of the nations together, for a half hour or so and Matthew found that he was actually quite enjoying himself. It wasn't as cold as he had anticipated for a large and roaring fire had been started up in the bonfire pit and had enough heat to warm the Canadian nation all the way through.

Also, like predicted, things were turning out to be very very interesting. For example, as a precautionary, Ludwig had dared Francis to sit on his hands at all times (with the exception of other dares in which he needed them) to avoid any unwanted molestation. There had been a bit of protest on the French nation's part but, as Elizabeta had stated before the start of the games, there was no chickening out and any refusal to any truths or dares would result in "_special enforcement_". No one thus far had refused and Matthew was almost positive that no one wanted to find out.

Also, Arthur and Yao had switched roles when Gilbert had cruelly dared the Chinese nation to sample some of Arthur's best cooked seafood surprise. The Asian nation hadn't left the bathrooms for a while and Arthur remained uncharacteristically oblivious to the entire ordeal.

All the Baltic Nations were dared to stand out in the snow in nothing but their undergarments and to everyone's horror Ivan joined them (by his own will mind you) while muttering, "kolkolkolkol~" darkly under his breath.

Speaking of the Russian, Gilbert had also asked Alfred what it was like to "become one with Mother Russia, da?" in which Matthew as well as the other nations were horrified to hear:

"W-what are you talking about?"

There was a long pause before-

"Oh! Америка was drugged while he became one with me, da!"

Never had Matthew seen Alfred, or everyone else for that matter, go so quiet.

Once that extremely awkward and disturbing moment passed, by some strange twist of fate, Vash and Kaoru shared a kiss. Matthew never thought Lili was able to conjure up such an intimidating glare towards the Asian nation.

Now it was back to Lovino.

"Feliciano I dare you to kick the potato bastard in the shins without crying." Lovino continued.

"Oh Lovi!" Antonio said, sitting up, "That's so mean~"

"And daring Roderich to make snow angels naked wasn't?"

"Well, Elizabeta enjoyed it!" Matthew could see Elizabeta nod with a knowing grin while Roderich glanced away and blushed beside her.

"Go on Feliciano..." Lovino encouraged, letting the smallest of smirks appear on his lips.

Feliciano looked as though he was about to cry right there, and he hadn't even taken a step towards the German.

"I-I'm sorry, Ludwig~" The Italian whimpered before approaching Ludwig and taking a (relatively weak) kick at the German nation's shins. Ludwig seemed to have no change in expression but that didn't stop Feliciano from immediately throwing himself onto the unsuspecting German.

"Whaaaaa! I'm so sorry Luddy~!" Feliciano sobbed while Ludwig patted him on the back, "Lovino made me!"

"Well cause it's fucking Truth or Dare! And I said you couldn't cry!"

"Now, now," said Francis, who was still sitting on his hands, "Let's give Feliciano some time. Who would like to go in his place?" Alfred sat up slightly, seeming to gain enough of his confidence back to turn to Gilbert.

"Gilbert. Truth or Dare?" Gilbert grinned.

"Dare of course! They're more awesome!"

"Then I dare you to stick your tongue to that pole right over there by the camp entrance." Gilbert laughed and raised an eyebrow towards the American nation.

"Are you kidding me? If you think my tongue will stick, you're wrong."

"And why's that?"

"Because my tongue is just too awesome to stick to something as un-awesome as a pole of course!" It was Alfred's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Then prove it!" Gilbert stood up with a wide grin and began walking towards the camp entrance. Even with glasses, Matthew could see long distance in the dark and the only sign that the Prussian had fulfilled the dare was a very muffled and barely audible yelling of what was assumed to be Gilbert.

"Feeeessst! Febgt somb fabgert!" (Translated: West! Get some water!)

Ludwig (more than used to having to listen to Gilbert's inaudible speech) let out an exasperated sigh as he stood up, gently releasing himself from the now calm Feliciano, and made his way over towards the Mess hall. At the same moment, the entire campsite was filled with the sound of a sporadic but equally as content laughter.

* * *

As the hours wore on, Matthew found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. It's not like he had to worry about anyone asking him truth or dare so he occasionally let his head rest on Gilbert's shoulders, having to convince the Prussian that he was simply "resting his eyes".

The asking had eventually gotten around to Elizabeta and she stood up to announce that this was the last one for the night. Sure. Matthew hadn't exactly been looking forward to Truth or Dare this morning, but in the end (even if he had been forced anyway) he was glad he had come.

"Alright! I dare..." she bit her lip and tapped her foot, "Oh what is it...um..." she glanced at Francis and the Frenchman mouthed the name for her, "Oh yes! Matthew! Truth or Dare?"

Matthew suddenly opened his eyes again and brought his head back from Gilbert's shoulder to look at her, "Um..." Matthew felt Gilbert's elbow in his side and he glanced up to looked at the Prussian.

"Pick Dare! Truth is always the pussy way to go..." Matthew raised an eyebrow. God forbid he be a "_pussy_".

"Dare." Elizabeta clapped her hands together and the sleepy haze that was hung over most of the nations immediately evaporated around her.

"Excellent!" Matthew looked curiously at the Hungarian nation. It's like...she had _planned_ it or something, "I dare you and Gilbert to spend a night together in Cabin 8!"

..._What?_

"C-Cabin _8_?" he stuttered, glancing over at Gilbert, hoping to get some backup but, to his disappointment, the Prussian looked almost excited.

"Yes! Remember, no chickens~ Go on now!" Elizabeta walked over and took both of them by the arm, leading them away from the bonfire and back to the main path, "Good night!" And with that, she skipped away back to the other nations who were slowly departing to their own cabins.

"Wait but-!" Gilbert replaced the spot where Elizabeta's hand had been and began pulling him towards the direction of Cabin 8.

"What's the matter, Mattie?"

"Well isn't Cabin 8 supposed to be _haunted_?" Matthew replied shakily. Gilbert started to laugh again, shaking his head. Matthew frowned, "What?"

"The awesome me will protect you of course!"

"...Don't go all Alfred on me now."

"You're fucking hilarious."

"I know."

"That was sarcasm, Mattie."

"Mhm~"

* * *

"Gilbert. I'm freezing."

"I'm doing the best I can dammit!"

There was a reason that Cabin 8 was abandoned and it wasn't just because of the ghostly rumors, but because this place was literally uninhabitable. Matthew would have thought he would see bugs everywhere, crawling in the dirty and torn up mattresses and along the dusty floors, but even those creatures shied away from the _shit hole _that was Cabin 8.

Currently Matthew was sitting on the bottom bunk of the only moderately usable bunk (for the other was completely unassembled except for the frame) and Gilbert was attempting to close up the windows that were letting in gust after gust of cold winter air.

"They're both jammed." Gilbert turned back to Matthew who was now shivering where he sat, his winter jacket not even enough to ward off the cold.

"It's okay then..." Matthew mumbled through the clothing that he had pulled up past his nose, "If I freeze I won't blame you." Gilbert paused to look at the pitiful looking Canadian. He had already overheard from Alfred that Matthew was feeling sick and if he couldn't close the windows then there was at least one thing he could do.

"Hey," the Prussian mumbled, taking a seat next to Matthew on the mattress, "Here, sit on my lap."

"Wait, what?" But before he could continue, Gilbert had already taken Matthew by the waist and pulled him up onto his lap and wrapped his arms around him, guiding Matthew's head back so it was resting on his shoulder.

"There." There was a pause before Matthew spoke up hesitantly.

"What are you doing?"

"Keeping you warm, stupid." Matthew could tell Gilbert was smiling, "You said that you were cold."

"Oh. Well, thanks."

"Mhm." Matthew had to admit, he already felt warmer with Gilbert's heat surrounding him. He felt his eyes begin to flutter close and he felt his head tilt to the side.

"Nn. Gil~"

"What?"

"I'm tired." Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"Then sleep. You don't need to ask me permission for everything." Matthew chuckled quietly.

"Okay." he mumbled sleepily, "Night then."

Gilbert waited a couple minutes until he was sure that the Canadian nation was asleep before leaning down to kiss him on the forehead.

...

"...Geez. He's rubbed off on me. I'm becoming all soft and shit. How un-awesome." But with another soft sigh from Matthew, Gilbert realized that maybe...

Matthew was worth being a little less awesome than normal.

...

He was awesome enough to make up for it anyway.

* * *

**Ffffff DONE.**

**Sorry if you were expecting more because of the long break, that's all I got.**

**Now I shall spend the next half hour waiting until the ball drops and it is officially 2011! :D I hope you all had a good 2010 and I wish for you all to have a great year coming up! **

**Thanks for everything you guys have done for me these last 2 months or so! It really encourages me to keep writing!**

**Next update should be next Monday to keep right on track again. :3**

**Reviews are always appreciated! **


	10. Disaster

**Hm...reason this is late? Well, my readers, shit happens. Yes and it happens a lot and at the same time. **

**Anyway, wow we're already at our first milestone! Chapter 10! :D**

**About this chapter, I had a lot of issues with it. I think I switched it around at least 5 times while I wondered how I should word it and what should happen. It was actually almost two small chapters before I decided to take a good pointless chunk out of it. I'm glad how it turned out though! It won't have to drag on for an obnoxiously long time now! Yay! :D;**

**Thank you guys for all of the reviews and support! It makes my day~ 8D**

**Please enjoy this chapter, things defiantly go for a twist here~**

**Disclaimer: Ffffff I don't frickin' own Hetalia! D8**

**Warnings: Eh...slight language.**

* * *

It was the next morning after the mass game of Truth or Dare and Matthew didn't think he had ever felt better than there at that moment.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining above him as he skated figure eights on the ice. Sure, it was still maybe only 17 degrees out (but even that was an improvement compared to last week's below zero temperature) but the air was clear and each icy breath felt refreshing as it rushed into his system.

Yes, the weather was nice but there was also the fact that he had gotten a good night's sleep the night before. Despite being locked up in the rotting remains of Cabin 8, he had slept in the warm and strong arms of none other that Gilbert Beilschmidt and it had been really..._nice. _Yes, nice was a good word to describe it. Even now he could almost feel the steady heartbeat of the Prussian that had engraved it's feeling on his back and his slightly musky smell with a hint of alcohol was still in his hair where Gilbert had rested his head. He had slept soundly like this until Gilbert started to snore, waking him with a start. Oh and the drool on his shoulder hasn't been all that pleasant.

None the less, despite all odds, things were actually happening between him and Gil. Not to say that Gilbert hadn't ever dropped by his house in the middle of the night with a blood alcohol level that exceed at least three times the legal limit, demanded to share his bed, and had occasionally pulled the Canadian to him during a strange dream or two but...this time...this time it seemed like things had actually been serious, like it hadn't all been a big joke. (And the fact that Gilbert hadn't been under the influence defiantly helped this theory.)

Matthew's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud and long growling coming from his stomach. He had been so busy thinking about the night before that his stomach (which was begging for food) had gone completely unnoticed. Figuring that it was about time he grabbed some breakfast (and gave the ice a break), Matthew skated back towards the shore and walked back towards his cabin. He stepped inside only momentarily to change into his boots when he saw Alfred still sleeping in his top bunk. Matthew reached up to toss one of his skates on top of the sleeping American in which he received an irritated groan.

"Come on Alfred, breakfast should be ready by now." Again, only grumbles returned from under a mass of blankets covering the stubborn nation's face. Matthew rolled his eyes and continued, "If you're not coming than I'll be forced to talk with someone else. Maybe Ivan perhaps? I'm sure he would have more than enough to talk about."

Thankfully, in Alfred's dazed and sleepy state of mind, he didn't recognize that there was no way in hell that Matthew would ever voluntarily support conversation with the Russian. It was alright though, considering he was finally pulling off the blankets and searching for clean clothes.

"Matthew I swear-"

"Hurry up then, I can't wait much longer."

Yes. It was fun to be the teasing brother occasionally.

* * *

"Yo Mattie check this out!"

As the two of approached the Mess Hall, they could see a very prominent and colorful poster was taped to the large wooden doors. Even without being able to read the black lettering from a distance, Matthew could already tell what it was about and as he approached close enough to read, it was clear.

**Winter Dance~!**

**The second of four, fun filled year-time dances!**

**When: December 31st: 7:00-12:00**

**Location: Mess Hall.**

**Food and drinks will be served as well as loud music!**

**This is a formal dance so please dress appropriately. (This means you, Gilbert.)**

**Right before the dance ends there will be a fireworks display to celebrate the New Year!**

**Don't miss it!**

Matthew found himself smiling as he read the poster. Things had turned out fun during the last dance so this one should be even more so. (Also he didn't have to string lights on the Watch Tower in freezing temperatures which was a plus.)

"Sounds sweet! Can't wait!" Alfred exclaimed, grinning broadly. The American then paused to sniff the air and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips, "I smell bacon!" And with that, the doors were pushed open and the two North American brothers joined the breakfast crew.

After filling a plate (or in Alfred's case, four plates) the two sat down at their typical table and, like when the Fall Dance poster had been posted, the nations were discussing said dance.

"Ah wonderful~" Francis said, rubbing the gruff stubble on his chin, "Another dance! Maybe it will be as satisfactory as the last, oui?" he then shot a suggestive raise of the eyebrow at the Englishman sitting next to him. Arthur grumbled to himself darkly, face tinting red.

"B-Bloody Frog..."

"At least it's fucking _inside _this time. Last time I was freezing my _ass_ off!" Lovino grumbled, poking at his eggs with an irritable look on his face. Antonio cocked his head to the side and took a quick sip of orange juice.

"Ah, I wasn't doing a good job of keeping you warm?" the Spaniard looked thoroughly disappointed.

"No dammit."

"Hm...Oh! Maybe next time we shouldn't make love behind the-"

"FUCKING D-DAMMIT SPAIN!" Antonio had to move his head quickly to the left when a fork barely whizzed passed his face.

"...Ahahaha...ha~ So cute~"

Matthew was expecting some sort of comment from Gilbert at this point and the fact that the table still remained quiet besides the clinking of silverware and the slight pant in Lovino's breath was an obvious sign that the Prussian wasn't present. Another glance around at the table assured him of this.

"Has anyone seen Gilbert?" Matthew asked. The only person who looked up was Francis (for Alfred was too preoccupied with his beloved food to answer).

"Ah yes, I believe he was out by "Gilbomb"."

"Geez he's messed up I tell yah." Alfred added after (painfully) swallowing his food, "To spend hours in the snow for something that will take 20 seconds."

"I don't know...sounds a lot like the kind of stuff my brother does." Matthew added, smiling to himself.

"Shut up Matt." Alfred pouted, taking another bite before talking again, "How big is it now anyway?"

"Approximately nine feet by nine feet."

"..."

There was a silence as everyone glanced over to look at the brother of the German in question. It was rare that Ludwig ever spoke up during breakfast if it wasn't to scold Gilbert.

"You would know that fucking potato bastard."

"Aw Fratello be nice~"

"He's the one who-!"

"ATTENTION!" The room suddenly went quite as the typical morning scene repeated itself. Elizabeta took her stand on top of the middle table, hands on her hips and a grin on her face, "I expect you have all seen the poster for the upcoming Winter Dance! Now we are-"

There was suddenly a loud thud at the doors to the Mess Hall, interrupting Elizabeta's speech. Matthew, as well as the rest of the nations, looked over curiously to see Gilbert's slightly breathless figure standing in the doorway, the doors swinging closed behind him.

"Gilbomb's ready to launch. Come outside for the awesomeness!" And with that, the Prussian disappeared outside into the snow once more. There was a slight pause in which all of the nations simply sat in silence, eyes still focused on the doors. Then Matthew found himself standing up as the others began to to file out of the Mess Hall. Like Matthew had said before, the construction of Gilbomb had become a sort of camp phenomenon and anyone would be a fool to miss the infamous launch.

Matthew stood in the crowd now lining the main path and he looked up to see Gilbert at the main entrance, an eager look on his face. Matthew had to admit, the whole idea intrigued him even if it was completely pointless.

"Prepare to be destroyed by the awesomeness that is Prussia!" Gilbert's voice drifted down to the group and Matthew looked over to see Ivan standing among them, a soft (but frighteningly sinister) smile on his lips.

All eyes were focused on Gilbert again as the Prussian began to remove the stakes that keep the giant boulder in place. It defiantly looked intimidating, Matthew would give it that. Like Ludwig had said, it had to be at least 9 feet tall as well as 9 feet across and Matthew assumed that over the days to build it, it had condensed to hard ice instead of soft snow. He wouldn't be surprised if it weighed over 200 pounds.

...Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

But there was no stopping it now as Gilbert removed the final stake and Gilbomb was sent rolling down towards the snow army. It started out as a slow crawl but eventually accelerated to an alarmingly fast speed and in less than four seconds of being launched, it had already zoomed past the crowd of nations. Matthew followed it as it made its way on its path to the dead center of the snow army.

Then things took a turn for the worse.

The boulder fell into a dip in the path and it's course suddenly changed from straight on to curved slightly to the right and, to Matthew's horror, it was now heading in the direction of the cabins. In specifically, _his_ cabin.

Matthew didn't know what to do. It's not like he could do anything to stop it. All he could do was sit and watch as Gilbomb hurdled towards Cabin 1.

20 feet...10 feet...5 feet...Matthew shut he eyes as the boulder was only feet away and-

There was a loud thud but besides that, he heard nothing. Matthew slowly risked peeking an eye open and breathed an exasperated sigh of relief when he saw Gilbomb stopped in its line of destruction by the large pine that stood strong beside his cabin.

A smile actually appeared on his face as he thought back on it. What had he been so worried about? It's not like the boulder could have done any serious damage if it had hit the sturdy cabin. It-

But the thoughts as well as the smile on the Canadian's face suddenly froze as the terrible sound of splintering wood broke through the silence. Matthew watched in pure horror as the tree trunk split completely down the middle, sending shards of wood flying, and the half closest to Cabin 1 began to fall to the ground.

_This can't be happening._

But it was. And it _did_. In a matter of seconds (though to Matthew, it had seemed like years) the tree had broken through the cabin roof like a knife through butter and collapsed onto the wood floor, shattering the glass in all of the windows. Things only went downhill from there when the wood panels that lined the roof began to fall apart, bringing down half of what remained of the supposedly sturdy roof.

Silence filled the entire camp. A suffocating and dead silence in which none of the nations breathed, the birds held in their song and the wind ceased to blow through the trees. If anyone had walked in at that moment, they would have sworn they had walked right into a still picture. The only sounds that broke through the silence were the tinkling of broken glass and the occasion plank of wood joining the others on the ground.

Matthew couldn't even bring himself to yell, cry, punch something...or...anything. It was like his body had seen everything that happened but his mind wasn't willing to accept it. As the murderously slow seconds passed him by, however, he was starting to realize.

Gilbomb had brought its wrath...and taken Cabin 1 with it.

* * *

"Ah! I think I got something!" Alfred pulled out a dusty looking suitcase from the wreckage and examined it, "Um…I think this is yours Mattie!"

Matthew glanced over from his sitting position on whatever remained of the porch. Noticing the maple leaf on the front he nodded and took it, "Yeah that's mine." He looked through its contents and found that yes, everything was there. Okay. His clothes had been saved but there was still that one thing. The one thing he was waiting for them to find.

Francis came out from underneath the collapsed doorway next, holding another two small suitcases in both hands, ducking to avoid hitting his head on one of the dangling panels, "Ah I believe I've gotten the Italy brother's suitcases. They seem to be in good shape as well."

Feliciano looked up from where he was sitting on the step below Matthew and a small smile broke across his face. He sniffed a couple times and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, "Veh, thanks Big Brother France~"

Lovino grumbled and tried to nonchalantly wipe his eyes as well, "Yeah whatever Fuckface." It was a pretty sincere thank you coming from the older of the Italies and Francis looked satisfied as he set them beside the pile of items Alfred, Francis, Ludwig, Arthur, and Antonio could pick out from the broken remains of what used to be Cabin 1.

Unlike Matthew, everyone else seemed to have some sort of reaction. Feliciano had burst into tears (not that it took that much to bring him to tears, but still). Alfred's expression had changed many times during the entire ordeal for he couldn't seem to decide whether or not to be angry or amused. Lovino had gone into some sort of rage in which he cursed to the High Heavens at Gilbert and had to be held back but a quick-thinking Spaniard before he did some damage. Speaking of Gilbert…

Matthew glanced over and saw Gilbert was still at the camp entrance, sitting in the snow, head facing their direction. Matthew watched as the Prussian slowly put his head in his hands and inhaled deeply. Matthew knew that Gilbert hadn't intended for any of this to happen but somewhere buried beneath the aftershock that was still clouding his mind, he would be pissed if what Gilbert did did something to it. If it did something to his hockey stick. It was his most prized possession. He had beaten Alfred with it at Vancouver and it hadn't failed him since. Matthew didn't think of it as just some piece of wood, but as a companion. It was a better companion than Kumawhatsit who couldn't even remember his name after all. If it didn't come out of the wreckage in one piece he swore that-

"Uh…Mattie…?" Alfred spoke up hesitantly, his voice drifting to Matthew's ear from somewhere in the remains, "I found your hockey stick." The Canadian could hear the hesitation in his brother's voice and that typically only meant one thing. Bad news. Really _really_ bad news. Matthew almost didn't want to turn around when he heard Alfred's footsteps coming onto the porch.

But he did anyway.

Alfred wore a solemn expression as he held the shattered remains of what used to be Matthew's hockey stick. Anyone who would have seen them would have thought they were just some woods scraps. No matter how hard Matthew searched for possibilities, there wasn't any way of fixing it. Like Cabin 1, it was gone for good.

"It uh…" Alfred swallowed hard, seeing the dreading look in Matthew's eyes, "It was right in the line of the tree. There was no way it could have made it…" The American nation slowly reached across to dump the splinters into Matthew's lap and turned to Francis who appeared at his side.

"Ah how terrible, Mathieu. I'm sorry."

Matthew was just shaking his head; the aftershock cloud was drifting away and was replaced with anger. A rage that he had only felt a couple times before. Though on the outside Matthew looked relatively composed, he was boiling over and just about ready to explode. Just one more straw…

And then Gilbert decided to join the party. He slowly walked over through the snow until he was amongst the others. The Prussian peered past the group and cringed when he saw Cabin 1 and winced at the tinkling of broken glass.

"Hey how's it-" but he didn't get to say much else because Matthew had gotten to his feet and made his way over in front of him, "Oh Mattie I…"

"Shut up." Gilbert looked perplexed at the dark tone in the usually mellow Canadian.

"Uh Mattie what are you-" Matthew then suddenly shoved all of the splintered pieces of wood against the Prussian's chest with one forceful push. Gilbert nearly fell over at the sudden attack and stumbled backwards, some of the shards of wood falling from his arms.

"Geez what the hell was that for!" he said, frowning until he glanced up to see Matthew's face, tears running down his cheeks and into the snow. It kind of freaked him out, honestly. He had never seen Matthew cry before. Well maybe from one of his awesome jokes were he laughed so hard he cried, but not like this, not when Matthew looked so damn…devastated. It was scary, seeing the Canadian so worked up like this, to hear his gasps while he sobbed and tried to breathe at the same time.

Damn he had really fucked up.

"H-H-Happy with yourself?" Matthew stuttered between sniffs had he tried to control he unbelievably runny nose, "You r-really screwed up this time."

"Yeah! Because I tried to do all this!" Gilbert shot back sarcastically. Come on. He knew Matthew was upset and all and his was kinda his fault but it's not like he had _meant_ for this to happen!

"You destroyed our cabin!" Matthew yelled, becoming louder with each word.

"Yeah and I'm fucking sorry okay? Geez you have to calm down it's-"

"And my hockey stick!" Gilbert paused and raised an eyebrow and to everyone's surprise, actually let out a chuckle.

"Your hockey stick? Come one…that's what you're upset about? A piece of wood? Just buy a new one!" Gilbert laughed again but slowly quieted his laughter had he saw the look in Matthew's eyes. The cold as stone look in his eyes that pierced him right through the chest, "Hey…Matthew what-?"

"Don't talk to me." The Canadian turned around and began walking towards the lake, stumbling slightly as he did.

"Are you kidding me Matt? What the hell-"

"I SAID DON'T TALK TO ME!" Everything went silent just as when the tree had coming crashing down on Cabin 1. Never had they ever heard the Canadian yell with such hurt and anger in his voice. Matthew's teary violet eyes held with Gilbert's scarlet ones for a long time. Gilbert wanted to look away but he found it impossible. That hard stare was suffocating and the Prussian actually started to pant.

Then Matthew turned back around and continued towards the lake, leaving Gilbert gasping for air.

Yeah. He had really _really_ fucked up.

* * *

**DOOM.**

**Oh God I suck at writing dramatic scenes like that. FFFFT SORRY! ;A;**

**So yes, I have added a twist to World Camp mwhahahaha...ha..ah..**

**Anyway, sorry if there are any mistakes. I looked the whole thing over but there still might be more. I'm telling you..one day I will sit down and go through ALL of the chapters and check them over. I swear! *cough***

**Next update in the next two weeks or so if I can get "A Trip To Spain Could Only End In..." up by this Saturday. **

**Reviews are always appreciated! :D**


	11. The New Plan

**...**

**So guys.**

**It's been a while.**

**A long while. A long five month hiatus, perhaps?**

**AH I'M SORRY. A LOT has happened in the months in which this poor fic has been put on the back burners. Let's see. I went to Mexico and Disney World, I finished "A Trip to Spain Could Only End in...", I went to State in track, finished my sophomore year of high school, I turned 16, I got my driver's license, got my own laptop, and gained a healthy addiction to tumblr! That's quite a lot isn't it?**

**Well, still I apologize to those of you who have been waiting for this update after leaving off at such a horrible point. Actually, this fic somehow passed 100 reviews during the hiatus! How did that happen? None the less, I really appreciate it! Even those of you demanding an update. I love you guys~ ;D**

**Quick note to _cookiesquee_ though! You've been such a loyal reviewer from "A Trip to Spain.." and you came and reviewed all these chapters but with the way I reply to reviews I can't reply to any of yours because you've disabled your inbox! I would love to finally reply to you if you would allow me! That is all~**

**Hopefully you guys will enjoy this chapter. I've grown much more into writing again so I think this will be better written than previous chapters. They say practice makes perfect! I'll be going back and editing the other chapters sometime soon-ish. Hopefully you can wait until then!**

**Enjoy guys. /and sorry for the long A/n. Ugh.**

**Disclaimer: I don't Hetalia guys. Come on now.**

**Warnings: Slight Language?**

* * *

The camp was quiet.

Too quite Francis thought as he sat next to the window of Cabin 2, looking off to the lake where Matthew was sitting, arms wrapped around knees, hockey stakes leaning against his side.

Too quiet, indeed.

It was understandable. After the young Canadian's outburst the day before, every nation could feel the heavy tension that had fallen over the camp. And it didn't help that a good many of them couldn't remember for the life of them _who_ had screamed at Gilbert.

But Francis ignored that part.

It pained him as the usually soft-spoken Canadian nation's father figure and the obnoxious Prussian's best friend to see them like this.

Yes, the hockey stick being destroyed by Gilbert's weapon of "awesome mass destruction" in the collapse of Cabin 1 had been quite the tragedy to his dear Mathieu and Gilbert had not exactly handled it in an "appropriate" manner but Francis had not expected the two to remain stubborn towards each other for a full day.

Any other argument between the two had never lasted long. A couple hours tops as no one else could stand Gilbert (at least _sober_) for more than that same amount of time and the Prussian always ended up knocking on Matthew's door saying something along the lines of "Dude, I'm bored as hell and some pancakes sounds awesome right now." Matthew, having a high tolerance level thanks to years with Alfred as his brother, was never seriously angry anyway and forgave him though whether or not pancakes were to follow depended on how much of a friendly grudge he decided to hold.

Arrangements had been made since Matthew, Alfred, and the Vargas brothers lost their Cabin and a place to sleep in the cool December.

Alfred had been sent to Cabin 6 where there was a bunk available amongst Kiku, Toris, and Mathias. It was a good fit considering one of them enjoyed getting just as drunk as Alfred as well as talking and or singing loudly in said drunken state and the other two members had unnaturally high patience considering who they were forced to deal with on a daily basis.

Ludwig offered to give Feliciano his bunk in Cabin 3 with Arthur, Roderich, and Feliks and create a suitable bed on the floor figuring the bubbly Italian wouldn't last long in any of the remaining Cabins as Russia was in Cabin 4 and Cabin 5 gave of strange fumes due to a certain Dutch nation.

Antonio insisted that Lovino stay with them in Cabin 2 going on about "how his little tomato couldn't just stay out in the cold! Frozen tomatoes didn't taste good! Not at _all!_" and even though Lovino had loudly argued that he would rather freeze to death than "share a cabins with a bunch of perverted fucktards" the stubborn Italian had taken residence in the end.

Being the thoughtful and oh so _clever_ nation he was, Francis had also suggested that Matthew stayed in Cabin 2 as well. There hadn't been much to say on the matter considering Antonio and Lovino both had to ask who he was talking about and Gilbert hadn't been present but residing in the Watch Tower ever since Matthew stormed out on him.

After all was sorted out, Gilbert remained in his bunk, Matthew took what had been the empty bunk below the Prussian, Francis now slept in Antonio's old bunk with Lovino below him and Antonio himself on the floor where he "could be as close to his love as possible".

Francis looked out at Matthew sitting on the frozen shore besides the equally frozen lake and sighed deeply. That's all he had done all day yesterday before coming in around seven in the evening, not even stopping by the Mess Hall to eat something before curling up under the blankets in his new residence and sleeping the rest of the day away and then when Cabin 2 woke up this morning it had been the same. Matthew must have woken up earlier than anyone and gone out to the shore with his hockey skates but by the way it was looking, they hadn't been used at all.

This worried the French nation. Usually when Matthew was angry or depressed a few rounds of hockey let out a good deal of the stress but to see that he wasn't even doing that meant Matthew hadn't bounced back an inch.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, as the door to their cabin was swung open and Gilbert walked in, pale cheeks flushed from the temperature.

"Ah hello, Gil-"

"What do I do?" Francis watched as Gilbert paced back and forth across the cabin floor, leaving wet spots as the snow melted off his boots, "What do I do about Matt?" The Prussian finally turned to Francis, expression in a subtle panic, "I've never pissed him off this bad! You raised the kid, right? What should I do?"

"Well..." Francis pondered, looking over Gilbert who had begun pacing again, "Your incredibly idiotic plan destroyed Mathieu's hockey stick. It was very dear to him."

"Hey!" Gilbert actually looked slightly offended, "My plan was fine! It was the damn bump in the road that fucked everything up! But anyway-" The Prussian suddenly paused, biting his lip, "Wait..." Francis watched the corners of Gilbert's lips twitch, forming a small grin as he put a finger on his chin, pausing in thought, "So what if I made Matt a new hockey stick?"

"...What?" Francis watched as Gilbert's previously troubled expression turned more and more thoughtful and the French nation swore he could hear gears turning beneath the other's pale hair.

"Yeah! Dude…that's_ it!_" Gilbert suddenly clapped his hands together and rounded on his heal towards Francis, who was still currently trying to catch up to the Prussian's thought processes, "I'm going to _make_ Matt a new hokey stick!" Finally understanding what his friend was talking about, Francis couldn't help but look slightly amused.

"Oh _really?_ And how do you plan on doing that, mon ami?"

Gilbert pointed an accusing finger at the French nation, "Are you _questioning_ my awesome abilities?"

Francis shook his head, "Oh no. Not at all. Simply curious." Looking reassured, Gilbert waved his hand, as if pushing such petty manners as Francis' curiosity aside.

"Oh you'll see! I've got it all planned up here!" Gilbert pointed towards his head, indicating exactly where he had come up with such an "awesome" idea and turned towards the door, "I need to go find West! See yah later Francis!" One more step and the ambitious nation was back out into the snow, heading for Cabin 3.

Francis sighed deeply, a lingering smile hanging on his lips at the mere thought of Gilbert's plan. It sounded ridiculous enough but also something that Matthew would appreciate, even if whatever Gilbert managed to produce wasn't functional.

Thinking back to Matthew, Francis turned towards the window and was met with the same sight.

One that he hoped would change…_soon._

* * *

"Feliciano?"

"Veh, yeah Ludwig?"

Ludwig watched carefully from over the top of his book as Feliciano propped a particularly furry squirrel onto his lap, holding it by its small arms and swaying it back and forth in a sort of dancing motion, smiling and muttering a content "veh" as the small creature made quiet chirping sounds, it's legs twitching almost in time to the forced dance steps.

"Where did you get that?" Looking closer, Ludwig swore that was white foam leaking out of the corners of its mouth but he could be mistaken. Feliciano looked up at him then back down at the fluffy creature he still held gently in his grasp.

"Oh, you mean him?" Ludwig simply nodded instead of openly questioning what else he could have possibly been referring to then the suspicious looking squirrel, "Veh, well I saw him on our porch. He was making kind of funny, twitchy movements and I thought he might just be trying to stay warm or he was mad because he couldn't find his nuts in the snow. I know that Fratello gets twitchy when he's mad too so I thought-"

Feliciano was interrupted, however, as the sound of pounding on the porch steps and the screen door being swung open with an ear-splitting creak filled the room.

"Hey West!" Gilbert said as he entered, letting the already fragile door slam put into place, the sound making the squirrel flinch and kick its legs in greater protest, "So I needed your help with this one thing. I was thinkin'-" The Prussian paused as his eyes fell over previously mention squirrel and for once, Gilbert was at a loss for words.

That's of course until he noticed the white foam now dripping down onto Feliciano's pants and he turned to Ludwig, "Hey West I think that squirrel's rab-" Thinking quickly (before Feliciano could hear the rest of the sentence and proceed to scream and cry with the new found, and slightly disturbing, knowledge) Ludwig jumped up and slapped a hand over Gilbert's mouth, an action that surprised not only the other two, but Ludwig himself.

"N-No bruder." The German said, trying to come up with something that would get that nervous look off of Feliciano's face, "That is Feliciano's dancing squirrel. He found it on the porch this morning." Furrowing his eyebrows, Gilbert reached up to remove Ludwig's hand.

"No seriously do you see the foam around its mouth. Shit, West, if it bites Feli that's going to be a total bitch to-"

"Veh, Ludwig what's Gilbert talking about-?"

"It's nothing, Feliciano…just…" Before Ludwig could second guess himself he reached out and plucked the squirrel from the now severely confused Italian, grasping in a way that it wouldn't be exposed to any skin, "Gilbert wants me to go somewhere and I...I-I think the squirrel is getting too hot in here. He…he looks hot. That's why he's twitching. I'm going to let him out, okay?"

Replacing the previous look that Feliciano got when he was about to burst into tears with a slightly suspicious pout, the Italian nation leaned back into a sitting position looking from Ludwig, to Gilbert, and then the squirrel, "Y-You sure, Luddy?" Ignoring the slight snicker from Gilbert at the pet-name, Ludwig nodded.

"It'll…it'll be fine, alright?" Ludwig began turning towards the door and Gilbert began to follow, "I'll be back later after I'm done helping bruder, alright?"

"Veh, okay." Grinning again, which allowed for a wave of relief to wash over Ludwig, Feliciano nodded, "Just make sure he's okay!"

"Yes of course. See you." And before anything else could go wrong, Ludwig stepped out of Cabin 3 and into the snow, Gilbert close behind. Confident that Feliciano couldn't hear them anymore, Gilbert spoke up.

"Dude that thing is totally rabid."

"I know, I know."

As much as Ludwig wanted to get the rabid creature away from himself as fast as possible, he had made somewhat of a promise to Feliciano and instead of flinging it away from his person, he walked to the edge of the camp where the trees were thicker and set it down carefully and watched as it scampered away, leaving a trail of foam Ludwig noticed with a cringe.

"You should have killed it, you know." Ludwig looked back to Gilbert who was glancing into the trees where the squirrel had been released, "What if it infects other animals and comes back. It…it could destroy everything! West! You've created an army! A rabid army that'll come back and kill us all! What have you done?" Knowing to stop his brother before his imagination went too far, Ludwig spoke up as Gilbert was fabricating a situation where the army could be undead zombie-like creatures that they would only be able to kill with Arthur's cooking.

"What did you need help with, bruder?"

"Oh!" Gilbert was immediately detached from his frighteningly broad imagination and grinned wider, motioning with his hand towards the front of the camp, "Come this way, dear bruder. We're going to take a trip to the utility shed. I'm going to make things up with Mattie and you're going to help me!"

Now looking at Gilbert's turned back, Ludwig could only wondering what the hell he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

Francis was relieved when he returned to Cabin 2 after stopping by the Mess Hall (where he may or may not have molested Arthur a bit) and found Matthew sitting cross-legged in his bunk.

Matthew looked up briefly before returning to staring blankly at the center table in what seemed to be deep thought. Francis smiled and made his way over to Matthew's side and sat beside him. Perhaps a bit too close but the Canadian either didn't notice or was too zoned out to care.

"Are you feeling alright, Mathieu?" Francis asked gently. These were the times when he remembered holding this same nation, centuries younger, on his lap and stroking his hair and being that fatherly figure to him. Whatever it was, the French nation had wanted to be there, as long as he could that is. Now that there was nothing but Matthew's willingness left in his way, Francis was intent on being there for him always, "Is it still about Gilbert?"

Matthew face fell slightly at the name but a split second later he let out a long sigh and rolled his shoulders, settling himself, "I…don't know." He finally said in more of a breath than a statement.

…_Oh?_

Francis leaned forward, quirking an eyebrow as Matthew struggled with which expression to settle with, "You don't know?" Matthew paused and slowly began to nod.

"I'm still really pissed at what happened but…I know it's not what Gilbert wanted but…"

"Ah…I know where you are getting at, Mathieu." France interrupted, causing the Canadian nation to look up, a questioning expression on his face, "You were only mad at Gilbert because of how he handled the situation yet you know, beneath all of your immediate annoyance, that this is the only way Gilbert can handle such a situation because the fact of the matter is that he's just an insufferable ass by nature.

"Now that you have had time to think things over, your frustration for Gilbert has died down and has left an empty hole because despite everything, nothing will bring back your beloved hockey stick." Looking satisfied at the look of pure shock on Matthew's face, the French nation ended with a, "Am I correct?"

Blinking a few times, trying to comprehend all of what Francis had said, Matthew slowly nodded again though he looked unsure of how comfortable he was knowing Francis seemed to contain the ability to read him like a book.

"Yeah…I guess you could put it like that."

"Then you know what you should do about it?"

"…No."

Francis sighed though a surprisingly soft smile remained on his lips as he stood up off of the bunk and made his way towards the door once again, "Ah, I believe you will work this out with Gilbert. You two always seem to."

"Um…what's that exactly-" But Francis had made his exit quite conveniently at that moment, leaving Matthew alone in the cabin once more. The nation groaned and lay back in his bunk, staring at the bunk above him, falling into deep thought once more. But instead of being enlightened by his father figure's "wise words", it had only left him more confused.

* * *

Ludwig did not like his current predicament.

For sitting on a log in the dense forested area that lined the outside of the campsite in freezing temperatures while he observed Gilbert abusing the use of a hammer and nails with a couple stray pieces of wood was not a very pleasant place to be.

His aspiring older brother had "enlightened" him on his "genius" plan (because his last genius plan had gone so well) to build…ah he thought he remembered the nation's name but it seemed to have slipped his memory. Either way, it was Gilbert's plan to build this nation a new hockey stick to replace the one that had been destroyed in the collapse of Cabin 1. However, by the looks of things, it wasn't going particularly well.

Ludwig had always been the more skilled when it came to mechanics, which is why he had assumed Gilbert had brought him out here in the first place, but whenever he offered to help Gilbert brushed him off and insisted that he could handle it. The German nation was seriously debating getting up and leaving (because he was sure Gilbert wouldn't notice his absence) when he suddenly heard a yelp coming from said brother.

"Ack!" Gilbert yelled and Ludwig turned to see the Prussian holding his hand and what seemed to be blood dripping into the snow, "W-West! I've been wounded! You brought the first aid kit, right?"

Sighing, feeling more exasperated than concerned for his brother's well-being, Ludwig walked over to the first aid that they had discovered in their raid of the utility shed and brought it to Gilbert's side.

"Come on West! My blood is getting everywhere! The pure awesome! It has to be retained! Nature can't even handle it!"

Yes, as mentioned before, Ludwig could only wonder what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

**There! After a long awaited five months, I have finished Chapter 11!**

**I do know what's to be coming in the next chapter or two but for the rest of this story, it's a bit of a blank. Hopefully I can figure something out.**

**I would expect sporadic updates for this story. Though it's summer I'm still lazy as hell and I've been feeling the need to write whatever the hell I want, when I want. This includes other stories and one-shots as well as a collaboration I'm doing with crackberries. So yes, I'm not sure.**

**Ah well. It's now almost 3 in the morning and I should sleep!**

**Reviews are appreciated! **


	12. The Gift

**...**

**/ahem.**

**Where to begin? So here's a chapter of World Camp?**

**Actually I was planning on leaving the Hetalia fandom (actually I thought I already had, go figure!) but suddenly, after months of absolutely NOTHING I had a sudden urge to at least finish up this little arch in World Camp. I guess it's not much but I actually really enjoyed writing this. After so long it honestly felt great to write these guys again. **

**As much as I love Hetalia, I've felt myself drifting for quite some time now. However, I'm thinking that still writing for the fandom isn't such a bad thing. I can't simply take what's been such a huge part of my life out so quickly I guess! So who know? Maybe I'll write more of this sometime. But when is not something I can say. **

**I really really appreciate those of you who review/favorite/alert this fic (and I'm aware that I have yet to reply to a couple of you ahhhh sorry) and you're free to keep doing so if you want to be informed when I do...happen to spontaneously update every once in a while. /worst writer ever**

**Actually one of you have been really awesome! A while ago (but after the last update, I believe) I received some fan art for Chapter 10 by yotzie! Thanks so much again! I love it! (And you guys should check it out too. There's a link on my page. c:)**

**So, I suppose you guys should enjoy the chapter?**

**That's how it works right?**

* * *

"Hey, West. Check it out."

Ludwig glanced up from the book he had been reading while he accompanied (and by accompanied it was more like _supervised_) Gilbert in the backwoods of the camp in his ambitious attempts to create a new hockey stick for…for…for a _friend_ of his brother's. (He honestly thought he had the name down, but alas.)

It had been two weeks since the Prussian nation had first proposed the idea and, because Ludwig tended to be painfully honest around his brother and anything that involved him, he could honestly say that the…_object_ that Gilbert had managed to make was…well I suppose you could say that it had the relative _shape_ of a hockey stick. Yes, it was long (maybe a bit too long) and it bent out at the bottom but other than that the entire feat seemed to have been in vain.

Ludwig was surprised that Gilbert had proved to be such a horrible engineer. He had thought that the German blood would have pulled through in the end. That is, until he realized that Prussia was a nation built on strength and fighting skill without relative elegance and grace which explained the many outbursts Gilbert had had when his tools wouldn't "properly cooperate with his awesomeness". This then involved a good many of them being lodged into an unfortunate tree the next second.

Ludwig realized only a couple days after he had been dragged along into this frivolous quest that Gilbert hadn't brought him along for help but simply company as he went to town with his hammer and nails. The German nation didn't particularly mind. After all, he knew that his brother would be much worse for wear if he hadn't been there to provide amateur medical assistance has Gilbert missed with his saw over and over and smashed his thumb with the hammer more times than he could count. Gilbert had even managed to slice his toe despite its distance from his tools and the thick boots he wore in protection of the snow which still lay heavily on the ground.

Ludwig had asked how on earth it had happened but the Prussian simply waved him off without even a quipped comeback to gratify his clumsiness. Ludwig was able to note the determination in his brother's features during that moment. He had caught the look and the slight grin that said clearer than any amount of words could that even though he could probably go into depth exactly what had happened, he had better things to do than explain. The moment he was bandaged, Gilbert got back to work without a word. This is why when Gilbert suddenly spoke up after two weeks of hard work, Ludwig was a bit surprised.

"So how does it look?"

Ludwig glanced over the "hockey stick" once more and swallowed before answering with a direct, "Well...not very good."

Gilbert let out a frustrated sigh and tossed the stick to his side, leaning forward on the log, looking down at his boots, "So that's it then?" Feeling uncomfortable, for the sound of defeat was not common to hear in Gilbert's voice, Ludwig stood and tapped the Prussian's shoulder with his book.

"You could always present it to...your friend anyway." Glancing over the hockey stick once more he turned back to his brother who was also looking over at the nailed wood, "I'm sure the...effort would count as something."

Gilbert shrugged and reached over to pick up the hockey stick, turning the handle in his grasp slightly before a small grin appeared on his lips, "Yeah." he said, normal tone returning to his voice, "Yeah Matt really likes that kinda stuff."

Ludwig nodded along and watched as Gilbert stood up as well, hockey stick still in hand, and began walking in the direction of the other cabins, "So I'll go do that now...you know, if he'll talk to me." Gilbert looked slightly discouraged before he quickly shook off the look and replaced it with a better suiting, narcissistic grin, "But he'll have to! It's been weeks now and who wouldn't be craving my awesome attention?" Grin widening, the Prussian turned back Ludwig, "You know why, West?"

Figuring he would be told why despite how he answered, Ludwig replied with a short, "Why?"

"Once you go albino, _you never go back_. Remember that dear bruder. Some good shit right there." And with that, Gilbert waved and walked back through the trees, leaving Ludwig shaking his head with a small smile on his lips.

* * *

Matthew missed Gilbert.

He missed being rudely awakened with a snowball to the face (at least after he had gotten Gil back for it), laughing until he was crying at the same jokes he had heard a million times, and that flutter in his gut when the Prussian's toothy grin was directed at him.

Two weeks it had been since they last talked (and by talked, he meant when he broke down into hysterics in front of the entire camp) and it had been two of the worst weeks in the Canadian's life. Matthew honestly didn't remember the last time he smiled after the incident or the last time he had allowed for a laugh to break through his lips, even to Alfred's best attempts.

He just couldn't feel it anymore.

He had been meaning to talk to Gilbert for a while now but it's like the Prussian made every effort to skirt around any such contact with the Canadian as possible. For the last two weeks he hadn't even sat down for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but simply stuffed any food he could manage into his pockets and left the Mess Hall without a word to anyone, save Ludwig on occasion, and literally disappeared until dark.

It had been curious, yes, but Matthew hadn't attempted to go looking for him anyway. If the Prussian was willing to make such a great effort to avoid something as little as making eye-contact, then he obviously didn't want Matthew to go searching out for him either.

The hole left behind by the loss of his hockey stick had been painful and if Matthew could go back in time and stop Gilbert from even considering ever making "Gil-bomb" he would in a heart-beat. Momentarily losing the friendship of Gilbert, however, had left behind a gaping chasm and made the ache of his hockey stick dull in comparison.

He just needed his friend back.

* * *

"What the status, Kiku?"

"Comatose, Elizabeta. No signs of resurrection thus far."

Elizabeta groaned and slumped forward in her seat at one of the back tables of the Mess Hall, blowing at the hair falling in front of her face.

"They were so promising!" she suddenly exclaimed, throwing a hand up, "So new and interesting! Where the hell did it go wrong?"

"It seems like a rough patch indeed." Kiku nodded, thumbs rubbing across each other absently, looking at his partner, "Gilbert is rarely spotted anymore and record of the other's attitude has been at a low since the incident."

Elizabeta stood and began making her way towards the doors, Kiku quickly following suit. She pushed open the twin doors and stepped onto the packed snow outside the Mess Hall, "Who knew a mind-blowing idiot like Gilbert could make someone so happy, you know? Go figure."

"Indeed. It's curious considering-"

"Wait ssh!"

Elizabeta grabbed a hold of Kiku's sleeve and suddenly pulled him around the side of the Mess Hall, body pressed stealthily as Kiku struggled not to trip face-first into the snow. Breath hushed and eye gleaming, the Hungarian peered around the side of the building in the direction of the Watch Tower, biting the inside of her cheek, eyes narrowing.

"Do you see what I'm seeing?"

Kiku leaned to look around Elizabeta's form in the same general direction, eyebrows pulled together in concentration. Suddenly, he could see two figures just underneath the Watch Tower and his own eyes gleamed subtly with mischief.

"Have your camera ready?" Elizabeta turned, grin pulling at her lips and Kiku nodded.

"Of course."

* * *

Matthew left the Mess Hall earlier than usual that night, getting up from the table and turning swiftly towards the door, much to Francis' inquiry. It had been one of his worse days and the feeling like his mood cloud was leaching onto those around him wasn't exactly a comforting thought.

He figured he would just save the rest of them the misery.

The Canadian stuffed his hands in his coat pockets and began a quick pace towards Cabin 2, unfortunately one of the cabins farthest from the Mess Hall. The brisk air burned at his face, turning his cheeks red, and stole his breath away as he passed the Watch Tower. Suddenly, however, he was stopped by a familiar voice shouting at him from the Camp Entrance and he had no choice but to turn around and face it as the noise drifted to his ears.

"Hey Matt! Hold up a second!"

"_Alfred_…" Matthew groaned as his brother came closer, dragging something behind him. Pale violet eyes caught on the object and his lips quirked in puzzlement, "What's that?"

Alfred finally approached him and dropped his luggage. Peering around his brother, Matthew saw it happened to be a massive pine tree, nearly 12 feet tall, it's branches jutting out at awkward angles from the way it had been hauled across the snow, "What do you mean 'what's that?'? It's a Christmas tree, obviously!"

Matthew paused, lost for a moment before he suddenly came to an abrupt realization that-

_Christmas was tomorrow._

It's like the last couple weeks had molded together, days linked without a noticeable break, and time flown completely out the window.

_He couldn't believe he had forgotten Christmas. _

Suddenly aware of this, he glanced around the camp, just noticing a few strings of twinkling lights strewn over a couple of cabins, wreaths hanging from doors, and even the Watch Tower adorned with bails of holly wrapped around it's rotting legs.

It astonished him how he could have been so wrapped up in his own sorrows that he had managed to tune out the holidays. It was almost depressing.

"Oh." He said simply, not sure what else to say. (Or rather, what to choose from.) Alfred's grin remained unwavering as he put a hand on his brother's shoulder and Matthew glanced up.

"Hey, I know you're in a funk but would yah mind watching the tree for a sec? I was going to round up some people to scavenge some decorations. Gotta dress this place up a bit for the best holiday of the year! Well, you know, besides the Fourth of July, of course."

Matthew rolled his eyes but nodded slightly, the look on Alfred's face to sincere to simply reject, "Yeah sure. I'll be here."

"Thanks, bro!" Alfred clapped him in the side of the head in a motion that Matthew's sure was meant to be affectionate but only accomplished in creating a dull throb in his temple, "Oh and…make sure another "Gil-bomb" doesn't come rolling in, yeah? This tree was a bitch to cut down."

Needless to say, Matthew was not amused and scrunched his nose as Alfred's figure retreated towards the Mess Hall again.

Matthew let out a long sigh and watched as his breath clouded and curled up into the blackness of the sky. He then leaned gingerly on one of the legs of the Watch Tower until he made sure that it could, indeed, support his weight before he leaned fully on it.

He glanced back at the tree and absently began humming "O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree" under his breath, imagining it standing proudly in front of the Watch Tower, adorned with decorations and charming, multi-colored lights when the rest of Alfred's team was through with it. That is, if they could find anything. Last time he checked, there weren't simply boxes of candy canes and glistening orbs hanging around camp.

Though, he figured, if Alfred had to use rusty hoses as tinsel and then steal bottles of shampoo and put them on hooks for ornaments he would. The thought of it made Matthew smile for the first time in what felt like ages, which it practically was.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see a figure approaching him and he turned, the smile lingering on his lips as he did so.

"Hey, Al. That was quick. Did you find some-" but he was stopped short as it wasn't he brother approaching him but someone whose mused hair matched that of the snow beneath their feet and eyes the same shade of the holly strung above his head.

"Gilbert." Matthew wasn't aware that he had breathed the name until his noticed the Prussian flinch slightly and the Canadian abruptly closed his mouth, his cheeks flushing though not from the cold.

"Hey what's up, Mattie?" Matthew felt his stomach lurch at the nickname he had heard millions of times. However, this was the only time that he felt like he was going to be physically sick or suffocate if he didn't breathe in about the next couple seconds. He let in a sharp breath of cool air and let his widened eyes look over Gilbert top to bottom. He was there, all right, and, Matthew noticed, he was holding sometime behind his back as well.

Matthew's eyebrows pulled together and his head tilted a fraction, trying to peer around Gilbert somehow but the other simply adjusted himself in return, the object remaining mysterious and Matthew had no other choice but to glance up again, meeting the Prussian's eyes.

"So yeah, hey." Matthew couldn't help the tiny laugh the escaped his lips.

"You…yeah you said that already."

Gilbert shifted back and forth on both feet, the snow crunching in protest beneath him and Matthew didn't think he had ever seen his friend so on edge in all the time he had known him. It was so out of character as the Prussian was usually one to mock (loudly) other nations who behaved in such a way. Matthew found it strangely amusing.

"Oh right." Gilbert scratched the back of his neck and took a couple steps forward until he was only a pace away from where Matthew was leaning, "Hey, Matt I'm-"

"Sorry? Me too." Gilbert frowned slightly, though the expression was more is confusion than distaste.

"You too?" It was Matthew's turn to shift awkwardly as Gilbert eyed him curiously.

"Yeah, I mean," the Canadian cleared his throat and rolled his tongue in the pocket of his cheek, trying to find the words that he had been practically rehearsing for the last two weeks, "I seriously over reacted and totally…bitched you out, you know?" He let out another hesitant laugh, "So yeah I'm sorry."

That's when Matthew risked looking up at Gilbert again and found that the other was smiling as well, his features relaxed in what he could only place as relief.

"Yeah, Matt." Gilbert laughed, "You bet you bitched me out! Christ, that was some scary shit. Seriously thought that-"

"So you were apologizing?"

"Oh yeah."

Gilbert pulled his hand back in front of him to reveal-

"It's a hockey stick." Gilbert prompted when he saw the look on Matthew's face, the Canadian's eyes narrowed, and eyebrows inclined in amusement. The Prussian then continued, his voice taking on a sarcastic tone, "Awesome, right?" When Matthew only raised his eyebrows Gilbert dropped his shoulders, "I know. West already told me its shit."

Matthew slowly reached forward, easily taking the "hockey stick" from the other's grasp and examined it. The entire project consisted of four pieces of splintered-edged wood half-hazardly nailed together with more nails than were probably necessary and many of them were stuck out at dangerous angles. It also looked as though Gilbert had tried to fix some parts with strips of silver duct tape but, in the end, had made things worse when the tape only succeeded in twisting the contraption in all the wrong ways. It was a bit too long and could probably serve more useful as a bludgeoning weapon, but Matthew felt strangely charmed none the less.

Gilbert had definitely put effort into the project and Matthew felt like that's all that really mattered.

"Thanks, Gil." Gilbert suddenly looked up from where he had been determinedly staring at his boots.

"What?"

"I said thanks. I…well…" Matthew laughed, "I'll be keeping it by my bed for the next time Alfred decides the best way to wake me up is with a body-slam."

Gilbert let out a hearty laugh and leaned forward to clap Matthew on the shoulder, a familiar grin returning to his face.

"At least it'll be put to good use then! Just invite me before you do alright? I wouldn't mind taking a swing myself."

Matthew simply nodded, his smile nearly breaking his face.

But he didn't care.

He couldn't possibly feel any happier.

They were alright.

Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

Elizabeta clapped her hands together and turned back to Kiku who flashed one last picture before dropping the camera at his middle and smiling contently at his partner.

"It seems as though the operation is back on, Elizabeta."

"It sure does!" the Hungarian exclaimed, her dazed smile turning into a wicked grin, "I think it's time to return to the hot-spot, don't you?"

"Certainly."

"All systems engaged. We've got work to do."

* * *

**So there you are~**

**Reviews are appreciated! **

**See you when I see you. 3**


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